en.Wedoany.com Reported - The East West Railway Company (EWR Co) is seeking market feedback for an Integration, Technical, Operational, Assurance and Environmental (ITOAE) partner for its national railway project connecting Oxford, Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge. The proposed contract will run from August 2027 to August 2039 under the NEC4 Professional Services Contract, for a maximum of 12 years. The company estimates the contract could generate between £150 million and £200 million in work over its lifecycle, but has set a budget of £300 million to provide flexibility for scope changes, project delays and additional service packages.
According to the market engagement notice, the ITOAE partner will provide project-level oversight and assurance across multiple phases of the project, helping EWR Co ensure that design and delivery outputs are coordinated, technically robust, affordable, and ready to support construction procurement and delivery. The role includes design integration and coordination, technical assurance, environmental and operational advice, digital and information management, constructability support, and client capability development. EWR Co emphasises that the partner will not act as the principal designer, nor assume the duties of the principal designer under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, which remain with separately appointed designers and future main engineering contractors. The role covers a wide range of infrastructure disciplines, including railway systems engineering, timetabling and operations, stations, vehicle interfaces, earthworks and structures, tunnels, mechanical and electrical systems, asset management, digital engineering, and environmental and sustainability considerations.
Under the proposed model, the contract will include a retained core service element, supplemented by time-limited authorised service packages indicated through a service delivery plan. The procurement also requires organisational separation between the ITOAE partner and a separate Client Support Framework (CSF) that EWR Co is considering procuring. Under the current proposal, the successful ITOAE contractor and companies within the same corporate group will be unable to obtain work through the CSF during the contract period. EWR Co states that this separation is intended to maintain the independence of assurance activities, reduce actual or perceived conflicts of interest, and align with recommendations from major project governance reviews, including the Stewart Review published in 2025. The market engagement activity will inform the final procurement structure, scope and commercial model.
Interested suppliers must register by Friday 12 June. EWR Co will release a briefing pack and recorded presentation on 15 June, with questionnaire responses due by 26 June. Following evaluation, four to five participants will be invited to structured one-to-one discussions during the week of 6 July.
The East West Rail project is overseen by the East West Railway Company (EWR Co), a non-departmental public body established in 2017 solely focused on delivering the line. The project aims to stimulate economic growth in the Oxford-Cambridge corridor, connecting world-leading research centres in life sciences, biotechnology and artificial intelligence. The programme is being delivered in three connection stages: Connection Stage 1 (Oxford to Milton Keynes) involves reinstating the line between Bicester and Bletchley, with infrastructure work completed by the end of 2024; Connection Stage 2 (Oxford to Bedford) extends services from Bletchley to Bedford, including significant upgrades to the Marston Vale Line; Connection Stage 3 (Oxford to Cambridge) will complete the full connection to Cambridge, requiring a Development Consent Order for construction.
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