UK: Transport for Greater Manchester announced on October 16 that it had shortlisted four bidders for the contract to operate and maintain the Metrolink tram network from 2017.
The shortlisted bidders are incumbent RATP Dev, KeolisAmey, National Express Group and Transdev.
TfGM expects to issue an invitation to negotiate in early 2016, with contract signature scheduled for January 2017. There will be a six-month mobilisation period before the new 10-year operating contract starts in July 2017.
During 2017, TfGM expects to complete the Second City Crossing, the final piece of an expansion programme that has trebled the size of the original Metrolink network. Subject to the planning process, by 2017 work could also have started on the extension to Trafford Park.
‘Not only can the successful bidder expect to benefit from the expanded network, but also a large and modern fleet of trams’, says TfGM, as well as ‘a new level of operational resilience and flexibility’ afforded by the second Metrolink route across Manchester city centre.
- An interview with Metrolink Director Peter Cushing appears in the September 2014 issue of Metro Report International, available to subscribers in our digital archive.
