10 October 2006
SPT Awards £2M Glasgow Airport Rail Link Contract
Atkins appointed to provide design and technical services
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) has awarded a £2m contract to Europe's leading multidisciplinary consultant - Atkins - to complete the next stage of design of the Glasgow Airport Rail Link (GARL) so that work can start should the GARL Private Bill be granted Royal Assent in early 2007.
This contract is the first phase of Atkins' appointment as Design and Technical Services Consultant (DTSC) on GARL. The appointment - announced today (Monday 9 October) - will see Atkins provide a range of services including design, engineering, architectural and railway design. The appointment starts immediately and will run until the Glasgow Airport Rail Link is completed, should the link get the green light from MSPs later this year.
Atkins has been appointed after an extensive competitive tendering process following guidelines laid down by the European Union.
John Halliday, assistant chief executive, SPT said: "We have appointed Atkins because of its extensive experience on similar projects and the fact it offered best value to the public purse.
"We are now entering a very important phase of the Glasgow Airport Rail Link project and Atkins will be preparing the final stages of design and providing specialist advice on matters raised through the Parliamentary process."
Transport Scotland is the new national transport agency for Scotland and is helping to deliver major infrastructure projects such as GARL. John Gordon, Transport Scotland project manager, said: "This appointment allows important work to begin in preparation for the scheme and I am pleased Atkins will be able to bring their experience to this exciting project for the West of Scotland."
John Foley, Atkins' Glasgow-based project manager, said: "This is a high profile project which will deliver tremendous benefits to Glasgow and act as a catalyst for investment. Our success in winning this contract is down to the skills, resources and experience at our disposal and we're looking forward to playing a key role in the delivery of the project."
Atkins (www.atkinsglobal.com) plans, designs and enables the delivery of complex capital programmes for clients in the public and private sectors across the globe. Atkins is the largest multidisciplinary consultancy in Europe; the largest engineering consultancy in the UK; and the world's third largest design firm.
The news follows hard on the heels of the development earlier this month where SPT and BAA came to an agreement, which allowed BAA to withdraw its objection to the Bill.
The GARL Bill is progressing through the Scottish Parliament. On 21 June 2006 MSPs voted 110 to 1 in favour of passing the Glasgow Airport Rail Link Bill from the Preliminary to the Consideration stage, where it is considered in detail. An independent assessor was appointed to further examine the Bill and report back to the committee. After considering the assessor's findings - and taking into account its own meetings with the Promoter and objectors during Consideration Stage - the GARL bill committee will produce a report, after which MSPs vote on whether the bill should be approved. It is estimated that this decision will be made towards end 2006.
The Minister for Transport announced in a statement earlier this year to the Scottish Parliament that he expected delivery of the Glasgow Airport Rail Link by the end of 2010. The Transport Minister's recent statement places the out-turn cost - cost at point of completion - at between £170m and £210m. This is consistent with SPT's projections.
The proposal is to upgrade 9km (5.4 miles) of existing track between Shields Junction and Paisley Gilmour Street station and to lay 1.9km (1.2miles) of new track between Paisley St James station and Glasgow Airport. The new track will cross St James Park and the M8. A new platform will also be built in Central Station and a new track laid at the Elderslie sidings.
The new rail link would provide a dedicated train service every 15 minutes between Glasgow Central Station and a new station at Glasgow Airport. Trains will stop once at Paisley Gilmour Street and the journey time will be 16 minutes.
The Department for Transport estimates that passenger numbers at Glasgow Airport are predicted to almost double, from 8.2million a year in 2003, to over 15 million passengers a year in 2030. Airport owner, BAA Scotland's latest forecasts are even higher and indicate that passenger numbers could rise as high as 24 million by 2030. At present, 95% of these passengers travelling to Glasgow Airport do so by road.
The rail link will provide more travel choice for airport users and establish a sustainable transport link to Glasgow Airport, which is a major employer and one of the biggest wealth generators in the region. It will increase the rail opportunities for travellers using Paisley Gilmour Street station.
The link will also benefit the tourist industry. According to Roger Tym & Partners, Glasgow Airport Rail Link could help bring 52,500 additional UK and overseas visitors and contribute towards £10m in additional visitor expenditure every year to Glasgow, Renfrewshire and Inverclyde. The link would also support the Glasgow City region's conference sector business, worth an estimated £115m annually. In addition, the link will help support 1300 jobs across Glasgow and Renfrewshire including 650-700 gross new jobs in Paisley town centre.
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