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HomeNewsVolkerRail Awarded Prestigious Contract for Manchester Metrolink

VolkerRail Awarded Prestigious Contract for Manchester Metrolink

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Work began for the MPact-Thales consortium who were awarded the construction & maintenance of the Manchester Metrolink Phase 3a extension project.

VolkerRail Projects, as part of the MPact-Thales consortium have been awarded the design, construct and maintain contract for the Manchester Metrolink extensions to Oldham and Rochdale, Droylsden in east Manchester and Chorlton in South Manchester.

The Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) has appointed MPact-Thales as the main contractor for the new lines as part of a £575 million project, which will see the tram network almost double in size.

Philip Purdy, GMPTE´s Metrolink Director, said: "Residents and businesses across Greater Manchester have been hugely supportive of the Metrolink expansion and I´m pleased we´ve now been able to appoint a consortium to carry out the work. The new Metrolink routes will make it much easier for people living and working in the county to use public transport, and bring major benefits to the local economy. MPact-Thales has a vast amount of experience, having worked on tram systems across the UK. The team will work closely with GMPTE staff and our Metrolink delivery partner, Parsons Brinckerhoff, to extend the network."

The new Metrolink lines will cover nearly 20 miles and include 26 stops. Trains will stop running on the train line to Oldham and Rochdale in October 2009. The new Metrolink line will open to trams between Manchester and Central Park in Spring 2011, alongside the new line to St Werburgh´s Road in Chorlton. Trams will start running to Oldham Mumps by Autumn 2011, and to Rochdale and to Droylsden by Spring 2012.

The contract starts immediately with preparatory survey and exploratory works together with the detailed civil engineering, track systems and operating systems design works. Main construction will start in 2009.

The MPact-Thales consortium consists of VolkerRail alongside two industry leading companies; Laing O´Rourke and Thales. Collectively the team members have the integrated skills and expertise, which combined with their extensive experience on specialist rail and major project delivery schemes, will provide GMPTE with the high calibre personnel and project execution required for this prestigious scheme.

David Moreland, Managing Director Projects VolkerRail commented; "VolkerRail are delighted to be members of the Consortium selected as partners to the GMPTE for the design and construction of the Manchester Metrolink expansion project. We are looking forward to working closely with the GMPTE and to delivering a very successful project."

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