Union Railway is retendering the project management consultancy (PMC) contract for the $11bn federal railway and has invited companies to submit bids.

Selected consultant companies have now received invitations to submit bids for the PMC contract. The submission date is unclear.

In January, Union Railway cancelled the project management contract that it had awarded to a joint venture of US-based Parsons International and France’s Systra in November 2010 (MEED 17:1:11).

Parsons has also now been invited to submit a renewed bid for the deal.

Union Railway had also been considering awarding the contract directly to US-based Aecom.

The successful bidder will act as project manager for the first phase of the railway, which runs from the port of Ruwais to the gas fields in Habshan and Shah in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region. This is stage zero. It will also be project manager for the next stages of development: stage one, which comprises the rail network in Abu Dhabi and Dubai; and stage two, which will see the rail network extend to the northern emirates.

The project manager consultancy contract will also involve the supervision of the entire first phase of development, including testing and commissioning, as well as a defect liability period once the project is complete. The project manager will supervise the preliminary engineering work for the entire federal railway. The UK’s Atkins will carry out all preliminary engineering work.