29 February 2008
£2.5m contract out for expressions of interest for Glasgow Airport Rail Link work
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) is seeking experienced contractors to bid for a £2.5m contract to divert utility services on Glasgow Airport land before a crucial part of the Glasgow Airport Rail Link is built.
SPT needs to make sure that all electricity, water and communication services are diverted before the supporting pillars are built for the viaduct that will carry passengers across airport land to a purpose-built station at Glasgow Airport.
Expressions of interest from multi-utility contractors are invited by 5pm on Monday 31 March. The contract is expected to be awarded in July. It is expected work will start in September 2008 and run through to April 2009.
The successful company will only handle utility diversions on the stretch of the so-called St James Spur which crosses Glasgow Airport land, from the M8 motorway to the airport terminal building. Major gas diversion works connected with the Glasgow Airport Rail Link are being procured separately.
SPT chair Alistair Watson said: "The successful contractor will work closely with airport owner BAA Scotland to make sure there is minimum disruption to motorists from the work and traffic management systems will be put in place where appropriate."
Glasgow Airport Rail Link is funded by Transport Scotland with financial support also from SPT, BAA and the European Union, through the Trans-European Transport Network budget.
The Glasgow Airport Rail Link will upgrade 9km (5.4 miles) of existing track between Shields Junction and Paisley Gilmour Street station and lay 1.9km (1.2miles) of new track between Paisley St James station and Glasgow Airport, the so-called St James Spur.
The 1.2-mile-long St James Spur - which crosses St James playing fields - will involve building embankments, the construction of bridges across three minor roads, building a new bridge across the M8 and constructing a new airport station. The majority of the rail line will be carried on a viaduct.
Work has been underway at St James playing fields for three months. West Lothian-headquartered firm Soil Mechanics is carrying out detailed investigations of ground conditions along the line of the new spur, which will run from near Paisley St James station to Glasgow Airport.
And work continues on the 11 temporary football pitches and changing facilities being provided at seven locations across Renfrewshire during construction of the Glasgow Airport Rail Link. The pitches and new changing facilities are being provided to give local footballers alternative places to play football when work starts on the planned viaduct which will bisect St James playing fields in Paisley. All football pitches are expected to be ready for use by September 2008.
In addition, preparatory work on a key section of the GARL route, which started in July 2007, was completed in November 2007. Network Rail installed portal frames for the overhead line electrification along a stretch of track between Shields Junction - near Kinning Park in Glasgow - and Arkleston Junction, near Hillington Industrial Estate on the outskirts of Paisley.
The new rail link will 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 8.2 million 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.
Companies interested in tendering for this project should download the prequalification questionnaire from the Buyer Profile>Current Tenders page of the SPT procurement microsite.
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