Metro North Tenderers announced

godtabh

Link

Metro North Tenderers announced

RPA has announced details of the two Tenderers selected to proceed to the final stage of the €3.7 billion Metro North PPP procurement competition.
The two tenderers are:

Celtic Metro Group (Barclays Private Equity, Obrascon Huarte Lain, Mitsui, Soares da Costa, Iridium Concesionesde Infraestructuras S.A., CAF and MTR) and

Metro Express (Macquarie Capital, Global Via Infrastructuras, Allied Irish Bank, Bombardier and Transdev/RATP).

This means that Cathró (Fluor Ireland Ltd, BAM PPP, Siemens Project Ventures GmbH and Strabag A.G.) and Dublin Express Link (HSBC Infrastructure Fund Management Ltd, Meridiam Infrastructure Finance SARL, Acciona S.A., Bouygues Travaux Publics, SIAC Construction Ltd and Alstom Transport S.A.) are out of the competition.

The announcement marks a significant milestone in the delivery of the project, which is set to create 4,000 direct construction jobs.

RPA said in a statement it plans to formally commence the final stage of the procurement competition following a decision being made on the Metro North Railway Order application.

“RPA are pleased with the level of competition in the Metro North procurement process to date and believes that the final stage of the competition can deliver a value for money solution for the state whilst providing an important stimulus to the economy,” RPA spokesman Tom Manning said.

Under the Metro North Public Private Partnership (PPP), the private sector predominantly finances the construction of the project and this is then repaid by a service charge (availability charge) by the RPA over a 25 year period from the date that passenger services commence on Metro North.

“The consortium that will be selected to build Metro North is likely to include both Irish and international contractors and much of the work will involve local contractors, professional service firms and local workers.

“Other sectors of the regional economy are likely to benefit such as those in the construction material supplying industry. There will also be secondary spin off impacts due to the expenditure of wages in the local economy by the construction workforce,” he added.

The new 18 km heavy rail line will run from St Stephen's Green via Dublin Airport to Belinstown (north of Swords) using underground, surface and elevated tracks.

The RPA say the project will address a significant deficit in public transport infrastructure in north Dublin city and in Fingal, the fastest growing county in Ireland.

The agency say it will facilitate development in the corridor which is forecast by Fingal County Council to generate 37,000 additional jobs and more than double the existing level of economic activity and employment in the area.

“It is crucial to the continued expansion of Dublin Airport and will underpin the significant investment already made in the economic regeneration of Ballymun,” Mr Manning said.

I know which one has my vote

dereko1969

Do tell

stevedublin

which one and why?

Jimicito

Interesting to note that the current operator and vehicle suppliers are in the rejected bidders !

JJ

godtabh

The one that will keep me working

murphaph

Well I don't think I've ever seen a Mitsui or a CAF tram. Metro North will be low floor (tram) technology. Anybody got any links for trams or low floor metros from the above?

dowlingm

http://www.caf.net/ingles/productos/tranvias.php

murphaph

They're quite smart looking aren't they. I like.

GerardKeating

kearnsr wrote: »

Link

The new 18 km heavy rail line will run from St Stephen's Green via Dublin Airport to Belinstown (north of Swords) using underground, surface and elevated tracks.

I thouught it was light rail...

Carawaystick

GerardKeating wrote: »

I thouught it was light rail...

it is.

Under the Metro North Public Private Partnership (PPP), the private sector predominantly finances the construction of the project and this is then repaid by a service charge (availability charge) by the RPA over a 25 year period from the date that passenger services commence on Metro North.

The bit in italics is worrying. Surely the clock should start from construction start, with payments starting from service starting.....

Cool Mo D

Carawaystick wrote: »

it is.




The bit in italics is worrying. Surely the clock should start from construction start, with payments starting from service starting.....

It's not REALLY light rail - it's more like a light/heavy combo.

Light rail generally means that the train shares at least some of it's right of way with traffic crossings, access roads, etc.

Metro North will be completely separated from all traffic - this is usually the definition of heavy rail.

However - Light rail equipment is smaller, cheaper and lighter than the traditional heavy rail equipment. Metro North will use light rail equipment, with the principle saving being that the tunnels will be much narrower, the trains will be shorter, and the gradients allowed much bigger than with heavy rail - but without the light rail style sharing a route.

In many ways, Metro North will be very like the DLR in London, another "Light Rail" style train, with entirely it's own right of way. The Paris metro is a bit like this - Paris Metro trains look pretty dinky compared to the heavy RER, and trains are short, and stops closely spaced.

murphaph

Cool Mo D wrote: »

Metro North will be completely separated from all traffic - this is usually the definition of heavy rail.

No, this is just the definition of a metro, be it heavy or light rail. Some heavy rail systems share trackage with public roads albeit rarely. Some light rail systems have no interface with road traffic whatsoever. DLR is of course, light rail: It's in the name.

Terrontress

I suppose it is all relative. Light rail? I certainly couldn't lift one!

But when I hear light rail, I always think of an outdoor system with very frequent stops. I am not sure though is there a cast iron definition.

I definitely would agree with Murphaph that a light rail system can have its own exclusive permanent way.

Terrontress

murphaph wrote: »

No, this is just the definition of a metro, be it heavy or light rail. Some heavy rail systems share trackage with public roads albeit rarely. Some light rail systems have no interface with road traffic whatsoever. DLR is of course, light rail: It's in the name.

Does the rail line through Wexford town share a piece of ground with the road. And the Southeastern rail line is definitely not light rail.

Cool Mo D

It's a bit of a grey area. Can someone come up with a simple good definition of Light rail that leaves Metro North and the Luas unambiguously on one side, and the Paris Metro and DART clearly on the other? What about the Copenhagen Metro, which has trains only as long as the Luas, where does that fall? I don't think you can say that Metro North is definitely light rail - it's kind of a hybrid.

Victor

Carawaystick wrote: »

The bit in italics is worrying. Surely the clock should start from construction start, with payments starting from service starting.....

Its one thing to be strict with a contractor, but what you are suggesting is more nasty than strict.

Legally, you can charge a contractor for delays, but you can't punish them as such - thats for a court.

Winters

Half of the confusion is branding aswell.

Rory O'Connor of the RPA said originally that they would call Metro North Luas Blue Line if they could but the DoT and MoT promised a metro so we are getting a metro.

Carawaystick wrote: »

The bit in italics is worrying. Surely the clock should start from construction start, with payments starting from service starting.....

By only starting payments to the consortium when services begin gives the contractor and consortium an incentive to get it up and running as soon as possible. By virtue of the contract the consortium essentially fines himself for delays.

The clients representative would be on site to assure proper completion and adherance to the set design standards or to allow any departure from standards.

VanBosch

The RPA has received a letter from An Bord Pleanala requesting extra documentation. They have requested that this be provided by 1st October 2009. (http://www.dublinmetronorth.ie/) So it looks like this project is some time off construction...

Rawr

Cool Mo D wrote: »

It's a bit of a grey area. Can someone come up with a simple good definition of Light rail that leaves Metro North and the Luas unambiguously on one side, and the Paris Metro and DART clearly on the other? What about the Copenhagen Metro, which has trains only as long as the Luas, where does that fall? I don't think you can say that Metro North is definitely light rail - it's kind of a hybrid.

In my own opinion, there are 3 types of rail your usually dealing with:

Heavy Rail - Medium to Long Range rail lines and units, mostly grade separated. Can be Intercity, Regional or Suburban, loco hauled, EMU, DMUs etc....

Metro/Subway - Similar capacity to Heavy Rail, mostly grade separated, seperate from Heavy Rail lines and can only serve a suburban region. Not built for long range, using EMUs. Never usually using locos/DMUs.

Light Rail - Can cover a similar range to Metro, but built for street-level service and can join road traffic. Also typically smaller than Metro trains.

Could be wrong there, but these are what I recon to be the differences.

I do not believe that Metro North is heavy rail. If it were, it could link up with the rest of the IE network and use Dart units. If mainline rail lines are used, it ceases to be a metro and becomes Suburban Rail.

However, just to confuse you, here is an example of what the Germans did in the Karlsruhe region.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tram-train

markpb

Cool Mo D wrote: »

It's a bit of a grey area. Can someone come up with a simple good definition of Light rail that leaves Metro North and the Luas unambiguously on one side, and the Paris Metro and DART clearly on the other? What about the Copenhagen Metro, which has trains only as long as the Luas, where does that fall? I don't think you can say that Metro North is definitely light rail - it's kind of a hybrid.

I'm open to correction but I think the difference is in the type of tram/train used, the track speed and signalling. Trams generally run on roads at lower speeds and with simpler signalling, sometimes only line of sight. Trains are generally heavier, longer, can travel faster and use proper track signalling.

Trams usually run on the road and trains on exclusive tracks but this doesn't distinguish between them because some trams run on exclusive lines (Luas Green line) and some trains run on the road (LA Blue line). For safety reasons, the latter doesn't happen much anymore.

davebuck

We'll be lucky at this stage if An Bord Pleanala makes a decision by summer 2010 on Metro North!!!!!

camroc76

Was part of one of the "rejected" tenders.....so sick when i got to see the percentages...ah well..here's hoping for the "Spirit of Ireland" Project:D

P&L

It has been said (in the USA) that the only measurable difference between Light and Heavy Rail is the buff-strength of the vehicles.

Generally, Light Rail has certain characteristics more frequently associated with it, in particular Line of Sight driving and Embedded Rail / Street Running.

Engineering-wise the biggest differences are Light Rail has very tight curvature, small capacity, a closed system (it's not connected to other railways) and steep gradients.

There are some UIC Traffic Type classsifications for tracks based speed and some other factors, which might roughly equate...
Light up to 80kph
Metro 80-120kph
Heavy 120-200kph
High Speed 250 or 300kph

Winters

One could argue that capacity, frequency, widths, length of trains as well as type of signalling and control are also factors.

I dont believe that there is an exact definition as the industry and it's products are evolving every year or so.

You could say that Luas Red Line is more akin to tram while Luas green from Charlemont is more akin to light metro.

Metro North Oral Hearing - Rory O'Connor:

Scheme concept
2.4.1 Metro North is similar in concept to Metro systems in many European cities of
similar size to Dublin and is not a heavy metro system such as London
Underground. Metro North vehicles will look and feel similar to the light rail vehicles
in use on the Luas system, though will be considerably longer by being coupled
together to form trainsets. A very positive feature of the Luas system is the very
small gaps that exist between the door thresholds and the edges of the platforms.
This feature has been maintained on the proposed Metro scheme. These small
gaps facilitate access for people in wheelchairs, people with prams and buggies
and people with mobility difficulties.

capacities.JPG

P&L

Yeah the point is that there's such overlap in system definitions that the only real classification that applies is 'Railways', anything else is just PR

Carawaystick

Victor wrote: »

Its one thing to be strict with a contractor, but what you are suggesting is more nasty than strict.

Legally, you can charge a contractor for delays, but you can't punish them as such - thats for a court.

The Dundalk bypass section of the M1 was done like this, the clock started the day the construction started ( well contract signed for construction) I'm not sure how the payment structure worked, as crg were getting money from the Toll at Drogheda anyway.


Anyway isn't the whole idea for the private sector to take on the risk... or do they only get to make profits.....