NETWORK RAIL £160m FRAMEWORK CONTRACTS NOW IN PLACE

NETWORK Rail has announced the final multi-million pound civil engineering framework contract. Nuttall will be responsible for civil engineering work in the South East and this completes contracts for the entire UK network.

The five year ‘framework’ renewals contracts, totalling £160 million, represent a key element the task of rebuilding Britain’s railway, explained Network Rail, and will deliver cost reductions and significant improvements in value for money through:

* more integrated methods of working
* reduction in overheads
* competitive pricing
* benchmarking unit rates for standardised work rates
* pain/gain incentives tied to key performance indicators

Network Rail Chief Executive John Armitt said: “The award of these contracts is a significant step toward our goal of controlling costs, whilst delivering a safer more reliable railway infrastructure and better train performance. The huge task of rebuilding our railway is underway.”

These contracts are ‘framework’ contracts and thus have no guaranteed work levels. However estimated values for the first year of the contract, and some more details on areas and contractors selected are as follows:

London and North East – May Gurney - £25m – 5 years
South East (Anglia) – Kier - £20m – 5 years
Western – McAlpine – £25m – 5 years
South East (South) – Nuttall - £25m – 5 years from April 2006
Scotland – Mowlem - £25m – 5 Years
North West – Birse - £25m – 5 years
Midland – Birse - £20m – 5 years
SOURCE RAILNEWS