OMAN: On behalf of the Ministry of Transport & Communications, the Government Tender Board has selected a consortium headed by Spanish engineering contractor Técnicas Reunidas to provide project management consultancy services for the construction of the future rail network.
The consortium will review preliminary designs which are being prepared by Italferr, and provide contract management and supervision services during the construction and commissioning phase. It will also oversee the procurement of rolling stock, and the tendering later this year for an operations maintenance contract.
The Técnicas Reunidas-led consortium submitted bids worth 57·5m rial for contract Option 1 and 165·1m rial for Option 2. A rival offer had been submitted by a consortium of Korea Rail Network Authority and Dohwa Engineering, which had reportedly priced its bids at 34·3m and 106·8m rial. Parsons International had also previously been shortlisted.
- Technical bids for the civil works design and build contract covering the 207 km Sohar – Al Buraymi Segment 1 of the network were submitted on January 18, and financial bids are due to be submitted by March 1 with a view to the winner being announced in mid-2015. The section of the planned 2 244 km national network is being prioritised by project promotor Oman Rail, with completion envisaged for 2018.
