WA minister for transport Dean Nalder has announced the five consortia which have expressed interest in delivering the $2 billion Forrestfield-Airport rail link.
The state government said the five “strong” EOIs for the project represent “another important milestone” in its delivery.
Nalder announced EOIs from:
– Connecting Forrestfield (Lend Lease and Ghella)
– CRCC-BGC-VDM JV (China Railway Construction Corporation, BGC and VDM)
– Forrestfield Connect (Acciona, BAM and Ferrovial Agroman)
– JHL JV (Leighton Contractors and John Holland)
– SI-NRW JV (Salini Impregilo and NRW)
The state will now shortlist companies to progress to the Request for Proposal stage. Geotechnical studies for the project are already nearing completion.
Nalder said the EOIs showed a high level of market interest, with the project attracting major international contractors to Perth.
“The strong mix of national and international respondents is a positive development for the project and shows the market has been well engaged, informed and is prepared to bid for this innovative project,” Nalder said.
Shortlisted respondents will be announced in late April, with the contract to be awarded by mid-2016. It will be a single design and construct package including tunnel and civil infrastructure, track, stations and rail systems with signalling, communications and power, the department said.
The geotechnical work, already underway and nearing completion, includes water and soil quality sampling along the route. More than 100 bore holes have been drilled as part of the geotechnical investigations and samples have been taken from 70 monitoring wells.
The minister said the sampling would help the project team make informed decisions about the best way to proceed with tunnelling for the new rail line.
“This innovative project will see two rail tunnels bored underground from Bayswater, beneath the Swan River and Perth Airport, out to Forrestfield,” he said.
“It is vital that we are aware of any potential soil or water conditions prior to tunnelling, to ensure construction impacts during the delivery phase are minimised.”