The Amec 50/50 joint venture with the Royal Bank of Scotland, Woolwich Arsenal Rail Enterprises (WARE), has been announced as preferred bidder for the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) extension to Woolwich Arsenal in London.
With a 30 year life, the concession to manage the design, build, finance and maintenance of the 2.5km extension is thought to be worth more than US$375M to WARE. The extension will run from King George V station under the Thames through twin bored tunnels to Woolwich Arsenal station. WARE will be responsible for overseeing the tunnel excavation and the construction of a new DLR station that will integrate with the existing mainline rail station at Woolwich Arsenal. WARE will award Amec a contract for the engineering and construction work as well as a longterm maintenance contract.
The WARE joint venture beat off competition from three other tenderers: MVBB Consortium consisting of Morgan Est/Vinci Concessions/Bachy Soletanche/ Barclays; WA Rail Link from Mitsui/ Mowlem/Nishimatsu; Woolwich City Link featuring Hochtief (UK)/HSBC/ Innisfree.
DLR is expected to reach financial close with the joint venture in time for construction work to commence by the spring. Construction completion could be by 4Q 2008.
