Auckland’s rail contract tender postponed
The procurement of a new contract for Auckland’s commuter rail operations is being placed on hold.
In April, Auckland Transport short-listed three companies, Transdev Auckland, KiwiRail and Serco NZ, to tender to
operate rail passenger services from July 2016.
General Manager AT Metro Mark Lambert says the decision to postpone the release of the request for tender is being made
due to a number of contributing factors.
“Since the decision to tender for a new contract, the Auckland Transport Alignment Project (ATAP) between Auckland
Council and the Government has commenced that will consider strategic transport opportunities, which is likely to
include rail services and infrastructure. The significant City Rail Link (CRL) infrastructure project will also commence
enabling works in the next few months bringing the delivery of this project closer. With these key strategic
considerations in mind it would be prudent to wait for any outputs that may impact the scope of future rail service
delivery before we go to tender”.
Another key factor relates to the recent transition to full electric train operations (other than between Papakura and
Pukekohe) from 20 July and achieving a stable period of high rail punctuality and reliability performance prior to
release of the request for tender.
ENDS