The ‘consultancy services for project management’ contract for Oman’s national railway project has

attracted technical offers from five international companies.

US-based consulting firm Parsons Brinckerhoff , leading Spanish engineering firm Tecnicas Reunidas, US-based

project manager Hill International, South Korean engineering consultant Dohwa Engineering, and Parsons

International have all submitted bids.

The tender was floated on June 16 and received interest from around 29 international firms, but by the last day of

submission only five companies had followed this up with a solid bid.

Abdulrahman al Hatmi, director of the railway project, had earlier said that the contract for the selection of a project

management consultant is expected to be awarded by the end of the year. He said that the pre-qualification

process for the ‘design-and-build’ contract will be kick-started once a project management consultant is appointed.

“We will try to close the process by the end of this year or early next year as we look to award the design-and-build

contract next year,” Hatmi told Muscat Daily.

Recently, the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) awarded the ‘consultancy services for preliminary

design’ contract to Italferr, the Italian State Railways Group engineering firm, which overcame competition from two

other firms.

Oman’s national railway project will have several segments, including a 242 kilometre line connecting Sohar port

with Al Misafah, 486 kilometres linking Al Misafah with Duqm, 136 kilometres connecting Sohar with Al Ain and 58

kilometres to link Sohar with Khatmat Milaha.

Major passenger stations are planned in Sohar, Barka and Muscat, Izki, Sinaw, Duqm, Buraimi, Sunaynah and

Khatmat Milahah, while large freight yards are proposed in Barka, Al Misafah, Sohar, Duqm and Sunaynah.

The railway will have a double line with electric traction power, carrying passenger trains with a top speed of 200

kilometres per hour (kph) and freight trains at 80-120kph.

Five international engineering and consulting groups have submitted technical proposals to provide project management consultancy (PMC) services for the construction of Oman's OMR6bn ($15bn) national railway network.The 1,061km national rail network, which will be built in phases, will be linked to the proposed Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) rail system that will eventually connect all six member states.There have been 29 companies to show interest and collect tender documents for the consultancy package, but only five consortiums submitted firm bids by the submission deadline.The five consortiums are led by US-based consulting firm Parsons Brinckerhoff, Spanish engineering firm Tecnicas Reunidas, US-based project manager Hill International, South Korean engineering consultant Dohwa Engineering and Parsons International.The Tecnicas Reunidas-led consortium includes Dar al Handasah and Spanish transport and engineering consultancy firm INECO, while Hill International has teamed up with German railway consultancy DB, Middle East-based EHAF and The Louis Berger Group (LBG).

"The 1,061km national rail network, which will be built in phases, will be linked to the proposed GCC rail system that will eventually connect all six member states."The consortium led by Parsons International includes Aecom and French rail consultancy Systra, while the Dohwa Engineering consortium comprises National Engineering Office (NEO) of the Sultanate of Oman, Korea Rail Network Authority, First China Railway and Balaji Railroad Systems (India).The winner of the PMC contract will be responsible for the entire execution of the project and is also expected to work with the Omani government and its representative institutions after the rollout and launch of the rail network.The selected consortium will be responsible for the procurement of rolling stock, reviewing the contract process, supervision of contract management and construction, as well as project management services.The first phase of the project includes a 242km section from Sohar Port to Al Misfah in Muscat, an 8km spur line to Sohar Railway Yard and a 20km link from Al Misfah to Muscat Central Station, as well as a 486km line from Muscat to Duqm Port and an 84km link from Sinaw to Ibra.A 136km track from Sohar to Al Ain with a 27km spur to Buraimi and a 58km track from Sohar to Khatmat Malaha are also part of the first phase of the project.

MUSCAT - 

Italferr, the Italian State Railways Group engineering firm, has been awarded the 'consultancy services for preliminary

design' contract for Oman's national railway project.

Italferr won the project pushing aside competition from DB International GmbH, a German engineering and consultancy firm, and National Engineering Office, an independent Omani multi-disciplinary firm, which submitted financial offers for the contract.

In a statement on its website, Italferr said three major design contracts were acquired recently by the company in the Arabian Gulf countries.

"In Oman, our company has been awarded the 'consultancy services for preliminary design of the national railway project' valued at about €27mn (RO13.58mn)," Italferr said.

The Italian company had submitted the lowest bid of RO12.35mn on the contract, while DB International and National Engineering Office submitted their offers at RO16.51mn and RO22.27mn, respectively.

Speaking to Muscat Daily, Luca Beccastrini, Middle East area manager for Italferr, confirmed the Oman project contract.

"We have received the letter of award. We were the lowest bidder for the contract," Beccastrini said.

Around 34 companies had collected the documents for the 'preliminary design' tender, which was floated in February. Technical bids were opened in May when around a dozen companies submitted offers.

The selected consultant will be responsible for provisional design of the complete infrastructure and systems covering all segments of the 1,061km railway project.

Italferr said that it was recently selected by the Saudi Railway Co for the preliminary and detailed design of the new 960km railway line to link Riyadh with Jeddah, valued at €28mn.

In Qatar, Italferr is developing the design for the Doha Metro after a year and a half of preliminary activities.

Meanwhile, the sultanate's Tender Board has extended the deadline for the submission of bids for the 'project management consultancy' contract on Oman's railway project by four weeks.

The 'project management consultancy' tender, which was floated in June, had the last submission date set for July 29, which has been extended to August 26. As many as 28 companies have collected documents on the contract.

Nine international companies or groups plan to bid for a contract that could be worth as much as OMR60m (US$155m) to design and consult on the construction of Oman's first major railway, a tender board official has said.

"The companies have been asked to submit new bids to give the process more time. The new deadline is on

October 5, for what we expect will be a contract worth between OMR45m and OMR60m rials," the official

told Reuters, declining to be named under briefing rules.

He identified bidders as a consortium comprising Denmark's COWI, DBI and AECOM of the US; SYSTRA of France;

US-based Parsons; Mott MacDonald of Britain; a consortium comprising Italy's Italferr and Worsely Parsons of

Australia; a China Railway company; France's Egis Rail; the Pointec group; and a consortium of Korea Rail and the

Hyundai group.

The official said the bids had originally been due to be submitted in July, but the government decided to extend the

deadline to give contractors more time.

Oman plans to build a 1,000 km railway at an estimated cost of

around OMR5bn, with completion in 2018. The line, part of a scheme

to build rail links across Gulf Cooperation Council countries, will run

from the northern border town of Buraimi to the southern city of

Salalah.

"It will have terminals in each major town along the way to transport

goods and passengers," the official said.

Each state in the GCC, which also includes Saudi Arabia, the UAE,

Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain, plans to build its own railway system as

part of efforts to boost trade among member states. Each

government is to fund construction within its borders.

A preliminary design tender of Oman's $15.5bn (OMR: 6bn) national railway

network has been floated, according to theOman Daily Observer.

The project is being managed by the Ministry of Transport and Communications, with

the network to be linked to the proposed GCC-wide rail system.

Tender 4/2013 invites qualified international consultants to bid for an award for the

provision of consultancy services to the Ministry for the preliminary design of the

National Railway Project.

It is understood the tender process is not limited to the five consortiums that were pre-

qualified to bid for the now shelved design engineering package floated by authorities

prior to a Ministry review of the rail project.

Design consultancy firms that did not take part in the original tender process can

participate this time around.

Meanwhile, a tender for the Project Management Consultancy package, due to be

floated within the next two-to-three months, is expected to be open to fresh bids.

It comes just over a month after the government gave its approval to diesel-based

traction engines as the primary mode of locomotion for Oman’s national rail system,

abandoning an earlier decision to operate an electrical network.

The network is part of the proposed inter-GCC railway network that will run from Kuwait

to Muscat, and onward to Salalah and potentially eventually to Yemen.

The 1,061-kilometre national network will be built in phases. 

Phase one consists of four segments: a 242km section from Sohar Port to Al Misfah in

Muscat, along with an 8km spur line to Sohar Railway Yard and a 20km link from Al

Misfah to Muscat Central Station; a 486km line from Muscat to Duqm Port, and an 84km

link from Sinaw to Ibra; a 136km track from Sohar to Al Ain with a 27km spur to Buraimi;

and 58km from Sohar Port to the UAE at Khatmat Malaha.  

Oman has issued a tender for a project management consultant contract on

the country’s planned national railway project.

The Omani Tender Board website said the tender documents for the project

management consultant will be distributed until July 11 and bids from prospective

bidders will be opened on July 29, 2013.

Once the decision on the project management consultant has been made, which is

expected this year, the pre-qualification process for the design-and-build contract on

the first phase of the 1,061-km railway project will get underway, according to Times of

Oman.

Also due in the coming months is a decision on a consultant for the preliminary design

of the project which will be chosen from the twelve companies that have submitted

bids.

Among those chasing the award are Spain’s Sener, Consultrans, ITALFERR, Dohwa

Engineering, SNC Lavalin International, Auding Intraesa and Tecnicas Reunidas,

according to the Tender Board website.

The scope of work for the preliminary design consultant will include review of previous

study reports, infrastructure design, systems design, rolling stock performance

specifications and preparation of tender documents for design and build contractors for

infrastructure and systems.

Oman’s national railway project will have several segments, including a 242 kilometre

line connecting Sohar port with Al Misafah, 486 kilometres linking Al Misafah with Duqm,

136 kilometres connecting Sohar with Al Ain and 58 kilometres to link Sohar with

Khatmat Milaha.

Major passenger stations are planned in Sohar, Barka and Muscat, Izki, Sinaw, Duqm,

Buraimi, Sunaynah and Khatmat Milahah, while large freight yards are proposed in

Barka, Al Misafah, Sohar, Duqm and Sunaynah. The railway will have a double line with

electric traction power, carrying passenger trains with a top speed of 200 kilometres per

hour (kph) and freight trains at 80-120kph.

The contract for consultancy services for preliminary design of Oman's

national railway project has drawn qualifying bids from three engineering and

consultancy firms, Muscat Daily has reported.

The development comes only a couple of weeks after the Omani Tender Board issued

a tender for the project management consultanton the country’s planned national

railway project.

The companies in the running for the preliminary design consultancy are the National

Engineering Office, a multi-disciplinary local firm, Italferr, the Italian State Railways

Group engineering firm, and DB International, a German engineering and consultancy

firm.

The firm selected from the three, in turn whittled down from 12 original bids, will be

responsible for the provisional design of the complete infrastructure and systems on the

initially 1,061km project.

Tender documents for the project management consultancy will meanwhile continue to

be distributed until July 11, while bids from prospective parties will be opened on July

29, 2013.

International competitors for the hotly-anticipated, but much-delayed, design

and supervision contract for Oman's National Rail Project have been

requested to extend their bid bonds to 5 July, indicating that an award could

be imminent, reports theOman Daily Observer.

Five consortia are bidding for a four-year contract to undertake the detailed engineering

design of the proposed 1,000km-long rail network.

Last month the Tender Board faxed letters to the bidders' representatives in the

Sultanate directing them to extend their bid bonds by 90 days to 5 July.

This is the latest in a series of extensions that have characterised the long-overdue

contract award. All five bidders are understood to have since complied with the request.

Bid bonds, which are guarantees that the winning bidder will undertake the contract

under the terms at which they bid, are typically valid for not more than 90 days, and are

routinely renewed at the client's behest.

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According to officials, the delay in the announcement of an award is an inevitable

outcome of the project's transfer last year from the Supreme Committee for Town

Planning to the Ministry of Transport & Communications.

As the move did not include any of the staff who had handled the rail project from its

inception, the Ministry was compelled to compile a dedicated rail team from scratch,

thus resulting in the delay.

Significantly, the Ministry has also appointed global consultants to review of various

aspects of the complex project, a process that is s till ongoing.

"This project is part of a Gulf-wide rail network, and the Ministry is carefully evaluating it

in terms of how to proceed. As it is part of a bigger effort between the GCC and Oman,

the Ministry is taking the project very seriously and according it priority attention," the

official told Oman Daily Observer.

The line-up of contenders for the key design and supervision contract is as follows:

Aecom, Cowi & Partners and DBI;

Systra, Parsons and Atkins;

Mott MacDonald, Italferr SpA and WorleyParsons;

Korea Rail; and

Prointec Group, Idom, Eurostudies and ALG.

The successful bidder will be required to prepare the preliminary design for all the

elements of the railway project. Upon approval of the preliminary designs, the

consultant will then proceed with the detailed design of the alignment and

infrastructure; bridges, culverts and tunnels; railway stations and yards; rail track; and

overhead electrical infrastructure, among other elements. Additionally, the consultant

will develop specifications for rolling stock and other systems.

Oman's National Railway System is part of the proposed inter-GCC railway network that

will run from Kuwait to Muscat, and onward to Salalah and possibly to Yemen.

In the first phase, a 240km section will be developed from the industrial hub of Sohar to

Muscat, followed by a 486km coastal rail network from Muscat to Duqm in the second

phase.

Given the size of the project, there is speculation that the Tender Board may select

more than one bidder to undertake the design and supervision package.

While the Muscat-Sohar-Khatmat Malaha-Al Ain network is likely to be awarded to one

bidder, the Salalah-Duqm line may be hived off to another bidder.

In later phases, an extension from Duqm to Salalah (696km), and possibly from Duqm

to the Al Mazyounah Free Trade Zone, close to Oman's border with Yemen, are

envisaged. A branch line linking Sohar with Al Ain on the UAE border is on the cards as

well.

Oman's Ministry of Transport and Communications floated a tender for the project

management of the rail network last month.

The website also shows that to date some 28 organisations have requested bid

documents, including DB International, Swiss Railway Engineering, Hill International,

Parsons, Aecom, Parsons Brinckerhoff and the Korea Rail Network Authority. 

The deadline for bid submissions is July 29.

The scope of work for the preliminary design consultant will include review of previous study reports, infrastructure design, systems design, rolling stock performance specifications and preparation of tender documents for design and build contractors for infrastructure and systems.

Oman’s national railway project will have several segments, including a 242 kilometre

line connecting Sohar port with Al Misafah, 486 kilometres linking Al Misafah with Duqm,

136 kilometres connecting Sohar with Al Ain and 58 kilometres to link Sohar with

Khatmat Milaha.

Major passenger stations are planned in Sohar, Barka and Muscat, Izki, Sinaw, Duqm,

Buraimi, Sunaynah and Khatmat Milahah, while large freight yards are proposed in

Barka, Al Misafah, Sohar, Duqm and Sunaynah. The railway will have a double line with

electric traction power, carrying passenger trains with a top speed of 200 kilometres per

hour (kph) and freight trains at 80-120kph.

Oman plans to launch construction of the first part of a $15bn billion rail

network in the fourth quarter of 2014, a government official said on

Wednesday.

"We expect the works will start in 2014 and in the fourth quarter, the first segment

starts," Salim bin Said bin Salim Alami, assistant director-general at the transportation

ministry, told Reuters on the sidelines of a rail conference.

By then, contracts for various project packages will have been awarded by the Oman

Railway Co, formed to manage and operate the sultanate's railway system, he said. A

contract for the project management consultancy will be awarded next year.

The state-funded, 2,244 kilometre (1,395 mile) rail network - the country's first - would

link the desert town of Buraimi, bordering the United Arab Emirates, to six major

settlements in Oman including the industrial city of Sohar.

It would eventually connect to a planned rail network across the six-nation Gulf

Cooperation Council (GCC), and eventually to neighbouring Yemen.

"Our vision in this project is to help the logistics industry and trade, a significant GDP

player in Oman, and to connect ports to the GCC as best as we can," Alami said.

Oman, which exports modest amounts of oil and will face challenges in financing its

state budget and generating employment for its citizens in coming years, expects the

railway network to be fully operational by 2018.

Italferr, the Italian state railways engineering firm, is undertaking the preliminary design

of the project, which could help to diversify Oman's economy beyond oil by boosting

trade and industry.

Gulf Arab states have embarked on a separate $15.5 billion rail network project that is

to link Oman to Kuwait through the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi

Arabia.