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![]() Railhub Archive | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Department of TransportMawhinney shortlists Eurorail and London & Continental in rail link competition
that Eurorail CTRL Ltd and London and Continental Railways will go forward to the final stage of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) competition. Making the announcement in answer to a Parliamentary question from Andrew Rowe MP (Mid Kent), Dr Mawhinney said:- "The Government welcomes and applauds the immense effort which all four bidders have put into their tenders. This is another indication of the very real commitment of the private sector to the railway industry of the future. "It is already clear that bringing in the private sector is going to add value to both the CTRL project and the European Passenger Services (EPS) business. This is another good example of the benefits flowing from the Government's Private Finance Initiative." Looking to the future, Dr Mawhinney said:- "There are two very strong candidates left in the race. I am confident that at the end of the coming negotiation phase we shall be in a position to strike a deal which is good for the project and its backers, good for passengers and good for the taxpayer. "We are on schedule and I hope to announce the winner of the competition before the end of this year." Dr Mawhinney went on to explain the basis of today's decision:- "The ranking of bids in the first stage has been based mainly on an evaluation of the level and timing of the Government contribution and the approach taken by the bidders to risk, together with a qualitative assessment of their financial proposals. The evaluation also took account of other transport benefits." Commenting on recent speculation about the line of the route, Dr Mawhinney said:- "We have no intention of changing the route for the new line. We imposed a minimum requirement on the bidders that the line should be built on the lands defined in the CTRL Hybrid Bill, which is currently before a select committee of the House of Commons. There is no question of changing that." The winner of the competition will design, build, finance and maintain CTRL and take ownership of EPS and Union Railways Ltd (UR), both of which were formerly part of British Rail and are now Government-owned companies. EPS operate the "Eurostar" services jointly with SNCF and SNCB through the Channel Tunnel between London and Paris/Brussels. UR has been responsible for planning and developing the CTRL project. The promoter will be bound by certain obligations such as those imposed by the environmental and heritage minimum requirements. NOTES TO EDITORS 1. The Government's decision to launch a competition to select a private sector promoter for the CTRL project was announced in November 1993. The Department published the names of the four prequalified consortia in June 1994. Bids from the four consortia - Eurorail, London and Continental Railways, Green Arrow (as they are now known) and Union Link - were received on 14 March 1995. 2. The four bids have been evaluated in accordance with the criteria which were set out in section 11.5.1 of the Competition Overview document published by the Department last August as follows: "The ranking of bids at the first stage, prior to the final negotiations, will be based on the evaluation of the cost and timing of the Government contribution together with the approach taken by Tenderers to risk and a qualitative assessment in respect of financial approach. In addition, the Government will consider the impact of other transport benefits, and the timing of the accruing of such benefits, in the ranking of bids." The evaluation procedure aims to satisfy the two central tenets of the Private Finance Initiative: value for money and the appropriate transfer of risk to the private sector. 3. The members of the shortlisted consortia are: Eurorail BICC plc HSBC Holdings plc Trafalgar House plc National Westminster Bank plc SeeboardLondon & Continental Ove Arup & Partners Bechtel Ltd Sir William Halcrow & Partners National Express Group plc The Virgin Group Ltd S G Warburg & Co Ltd. 4. In recognition of the size of the project and work needed to prepare bids, the Government has offered the bidders who have not been shortlisted a contribution to their costs. The offer is 33% of costs or #1.5m, whichever is lower. This was announced in March 1994. CTRL Project - Background 5. The Channel Tunnel Rail Link will be a 108km high-speed railway between London and Channel Tunnel for both international and domestic passenger services. The cost was estimated by UR in 1993 at #2.7 billion. The Government will provide a substantial financial contribution in recognition of the domestic transport and regeneration benefits and also the very large benefits to international passengers. The final figure will be determined by the outcome of the competition. 6. Most of the route of the CTRL was announced on 24 January 1994 and safeguarded the following month. A further announcement in respect of two particular parts of the route - in Kent at Ashford and Pepper Hill - was made in April 1994, which finalised the route. The Hybrid Bill 7. A Hybrid Bill authorising the construction, operation and maintenance of the CTRL was introduced in Parliament in November 1994, and is currently being considered by a Select Committee of the House of Commons. Royal Assent is expected in summer 1996. # = pounds sterling
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