06.11.15
TfL to press on with delayed SSR resignalling via Mace-CPC contract
Transport for London (TfL) has appointed a Mace and CPC Project Services joint venture as its programme support partner to help renew the current signalling systems across the four sub-surface Underground lines.
The joint venture will be responsible for reviewing resignalling plans and help bring in advanced automated train control for the District, Circle, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines.
The resignalling itself is being delivered by Thales, but consultancy firms Mace and CPC will provide LU with an integrated programme while supporting the Four Lines Modernisation (4LM) leadership team by looking at how the rest of the supply chain are incentivised throughout the scheme.
4LM hopes to increase service reliability and train frequency as one component of London Underground’s bigger £5.4bn investment in its sub-surface railway – which also includes the new fleet of 191 S-stock trains.
The £5.4bn budget is a 30% increase from the original £4.26bn, but slightly less than a revised figure of £5.54bn given in March. Most of this cash has already been spent on new rolling stock, station upgrades and platform lengthenings, with only £371m forecast to be spent in 2015-16.
The resignalling programme has experienced a series of delays after Bombardier’s 2011 sub-surface contract was taken off it and re-let at the end of 2013.
TfL finally hammered out the details of the £760m contract in August of this year, 15 months after pre-selecting Thales to carry out the work – which had already been the contractor to deliver the Jubilee Line and Northern Line resignalling.
The original deadline of a 2018 completion will no longer be met, with works on the Circle Line starting in 2021 and all four lines’ new signalling systems operational by 2023.
David Martin, Mace programme director, said: “This is fantastic opportunity for us to support LU in creating a high-performing team to drive the programme forward.
“There are already some excellent partners on board and we’re looking to complement their skills, bring insight from our work on major programmes and help deliver this critical scheme for London’s transport network.”
The appointment, with an initial commission of eight months, also builds on previous relations between the two firms – who already worked together on TfL’s Tramlink programme and took part in a joint delivery consortium for Crossrail and LU stations, together with EC Harris, Initiate and CH2M Hill.
Mace also recently helped Network Rail transform Birmingham’s New Street station, while CPC provided programme and cost management for several Network Rail training facilities – including the recently-opened Basingstoke training centre.