It’s been a busy year for companies that tendered for transport projects in Sydney and throughout Australia in 2014. There were big wins for some of the major players while others had a year they would rather forget.
The biggest announcement of the year was arguably the awarding of the $3.7 billion North West Rail Link OTS PPP to the Northwest Rapid Transit consortium, but this submission was handed in at the end of last year.
The biggest transport tenders in Sydney this year were the first two stages of WestConnex and the Sydney Light Rail. While Sydney Light Rail has been awarded to the Connecting Sydney consortium, much is still up for grabs for the road builders.
The three consortia selected to tender for Stage 1 of WestConnex, the design and construction of the M4 East, were the Future Connect Joint Venture, Lend Lease Bouygues Joint Venture and Thiess Samsung John Holland Joint Venture. It will be all-hands-on-deck for these firms at the moment, with the due date of mid-December for the $1.8 billion project only weeks away.
For Stage 2, the design and construction of the new M5, the WestConnex Delivery Authority whittled five expressions of interest down to three. The submission is due in approximately March next year. The three shortlisted consortia for this multibillion-dollar project are:
- Lend Lease Acciona Joint Venture
- Leighton Dragados Samsung Joint Venture
- Tunnel Link (Ferrovial, Ghella and McConnell Dowell).
Working to almost the same time frame as the firms bidding on WestConnext Stage 2 will be the recently shortlisted consortiums for Sydney’s $400m Northern Beaches Hospital Road upgrade. This design and construction tender is due in approximately the first quarter of next year.
There's also a big opportunity for the rolling stock providers with a 'strong contingent of local and international contenders' bidding on the delivery and maintenance of a new state-of-the-art intercity train fleet in Sydney. The EOI was submitted in September and the announcement of those shortlisted is due any day now. The project is worth $2.8 billion.
Other projects on the tender radar in Sydney, but without clear procurement dates include Parramatta Light Rail and WestConnex Stage 3.
Just a few hours from Sydney in the nation's capital, consortiums are currently vying for the very-competitive $600m Canberra Light Rail. The expression of interest is out now and due mid December. But strong competition is expected, says the client, with over 370 local, national and international industry representatives attending the industry briefing last month, according to the project's Capital Metro website. The RFP is expected in the second quarter of next year.
The big tender currently underway in Melbourne is with the Rail Transformation Consortium – an unsolicited proposal to improve a busy rail corridor in Melbourne’s east. This is the second major unsolicited proposal of recent years in the transport sector, following the successful outcome for Sydney’s NorthConnex scheme.
Further north in Brisbane and Queensland, companies are waiting for the Bus and Train (BaT) tunnel tender process to start - the Queensland Government is currently preparing for procurement - while shortlisted consortiums for Toowoomba’s Second Range Crossing are currently getting their tender submissions ready for the due date in early 2015.