Member Article

Bombardier hopeful as Crossrail tenders open

Transport Secretary Justine Greening has opened the tender period for the £1bn London Crossrail project, sparking hopes that Derby-based Bombardier will win.

Bombardier will face international rivals in the bid to build 60 new trains and a depot in West London.

Announcing the launch of the invitation, Mrs Greening said: “Crossrail will create vital new transport infrastructure to support economic growth.

“It will deliver faster journey times and a 10% increase in the capacity of London’s rail network.”

She also noted the successful bidder would be required to operate ‘responsible procurement,’ meaning they would need to set out how they will engage with the wider supply chain and provide opportunities for training and apprenticeships.

The government came under criticism when Bombardier lost out to Germany company Siemens on the £1.6bn contract for the Thameslink rail project.

Mrs Greening noted that findings of the Growth Review, promoted by the Bombardier loss, would form part of this tendering process.

Bombardier will face competition from three other companies including Spain’s CAF, Hitachi Rail Europe and Siemens.

Andrew Wolstenholme, Crossrail Chief Executive said: “Procurement of the rolling stock and depot is crucial to the overall delivery of Crossrail, which will create a significant transformation of transport in London and the southeast.

“Over the past year Crossrail has successfully procured some of the largest value contracts in recent UK construction history, creating major employment opportunities and providing a much needed boost to the UK economy.

“In doing so we have developed a reputation for being an industry leader in procurement built on a commitment to conduct our procurements in a fair, objective and transparent manner and in full compliance with the regulatory framework.”

Commenting on the overall Cross rail project, Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “Crossrail provides London with a multitude of benefits including a huge economic boost for our city.

“Thousands of jobs are being created through the construction of the railway, many of which will be through the manufacture of trains and depots.

“When up and running Crossrail will single handedly increase the rail capacity in our great city by a whopping ten per cent and support regeneration across the whole of the capital.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .