Metro groups to get detailed project plans

The four consortiums bidding to build the planned Metro North in Dublin will receive detailed specifications for the multibillion euro project in the coming days.

The bidders can begin intensive planning for designs when they receive the specifications from the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) on May 12. Tom Manning, a spokesman for the RPA, confirmed the specifications would be issued next week, which he described as an important milestone for Metro North.

‘‘We are very happy with the progress of the project to date, and the issuing of tenders is one of the key milestones in the development of the Metro,” he said. The RPA plans to apply for a Railway Order for the project in late August or early September, and Manning said ‘‘significant progress’’ had been made on that issue.

However, following requests from the bidders, the deadline for the submission of designs for Metro North has been pushed back by a fortnight to mid-December. The four groups are all either finalising assembly of their project teams - which include engineers, architects, quantity surveyors and rail specialists - or have them in place already.

The four consortiums are Dublin Express Link, which includes SIAC, HSBC and French Metro operators Keolis; Cathro Consortium, which includes Luas operator Veolia and Siemens; Metro Express, which includes AIB, Transdev and Sisk; and the Celtic Metro Group, which is composed of foreign operators and headed by Tokyo-based investment group Mitsui.

The tender proposals will be quite specific and detailed, but each consortium can suggest changes or additions to the RPA’s proposal. Cost will be the overriding issue, but price estimates cannot be gauged until the Railway Order has been secured, as alterations to the route may be required if the order is granted.

The RPA will score each final submission on specifications, and is likely to bring in the individual bidders for question-and-answer sessions. Two of the bids will go forward to a final offer stage.

It will be the end of next year before both stages are completed and one consortium is selected for the contract.

The 17-kilometre Metro North line will run overground and underground from Swords to St Stephen’s Green in the city centre, with 15 stops. About ten kilometres of the route will be underground. The RPA expects the line to carry 34 million passengers a year.