Metro extension job gets on track

The Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive is inviting expressions of interest in an £80 million extension to the existing Tyne and Wear metro system which will be undertaken as a PFI venture.

The project will be similar to the Lewisham Extension to the Docklands Light Railway in London in that the private sector will design, build, finance and maintain the line, but the existing operator, Nexus, will continue to operate the rolling stock.

Some Government funding will still be needed to make the project financially viable, but like the Croydon Tramlink project in south London, a key part of the negotiating process will be over just how much public funding will be needed.

The winning private sector consortium will make its money through availability usage charges to the train operator Nexus over the life of the concession. The exact length of the concession is negotiable, but is likely to be somewhere between 20 and 30 years.

A shortlist should be established and invitations to tender issued in the new year with the concession awarded by the end of 1999.

Construction will take about two years and the extension should be in operation by the end of 2001.

The extension will run from Pelaw in Gateshead through South Tyneside to Sunderland city centre and beyond to South Hylton in Sunderland. Work will involve the design, upgrade, equipping and maintenance of about 14km of the existing Railtrack network between Pelaw and Sunderland. The new build element comprises some 4.5km of new track between Sunderland and South Hylton.

Other works include the electrification at 1,500v DC of both the existing railway and the new metro, along with the upgrade or new installation of signalling and other systems. The line will have 12 stations which need to be either new build or improved. The winning concessionaire will have to work with Railtrack over the shared access to Railtrack's existing line.