World Business

Crossrail is bewitching five groups to bid to suit its one of a firm in a rail link between Heathrow and Essex, with Bechtel reported to have the edge

by Mark Leftly

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Doug Oakervee, the executive chairman of Crossrail, will lead five parties to struggle for the right to oversee the £16bn west-to-east London rail bond this week.

U.S. giants Bechtel and CH2M Hill, as well as Kent-based Laing O’Rourke, are among the shortlisted groups. They be disposed vie for the role of throw out delivery partner, similar to the job performed by CH2M Hill and Laing O’Rourke as piece of the private sector consortium overseeing the construction of the London 2012 Olympic venues.

Crossrail’s seven-strong board is expected to finalise the short think proper at a interview tomorrow, with letters sent to the happy parties on Tuesday or Wednesday. A winner will be selected through the end of the year, at what one. point it will have to appoint companies to key contracts that will create the rail unite from Heathrow to Essex.

Bechtel is considered the hot favourite for the role. Its bid team is headed by American Cliff Mumm, who oversaw work on the reconstruction of Iraq and the Jubilee Line extension on the London Tube. Bechtel was also heavily involved in guiding Crossrail through the Parliamentary train; the device only received Royal Assent last month, two decades after it was first mooted.

A transport industry source said: “Bechtel ought to get the job. It’s a natural for them, given Bechtel’s eminent performance upon the body the Jubilee Line.”

Laing O’Rourke has emerged as a contender for a role in its own right over the past two years. Its drudge on the Olympics was deigned to help it move away from actuality a narrow mode of constructing firm and last year it hired Tony Douglas, who had overseen the erection of Heathrow’s Terminal Five.

However, a leading perseverance person specially versed said that whichever company was selected would end up in conflict with another Crossrail appointment. The board will also let a project manager to help Crossrail keep in contact with all its major stakeholders, including National Rail and London Underground, throughout the construction programme.

Although the role is subservient to the design delivery partner, the expert uttered: “Splitting it like this means there will be a nasty interface between the two selected parties. This has the potential to be another Millennium Dome.”

The source warned that Boris Johnson, the London Mayor, should be steady his guard that the flawed contractual structure behind Metronet, the failed London Underground cluster, is not reintroduced on the Crossrail project. This contract allowed the umbrella organisation to grant victuals drudge to its own construction divisions, a move that led to its downfall.

“If I were Conservative Party Central Office, I would be on Boris like a rash to make sure Transport because of London helps perform Crossrail properly.”

Next month, headhunters will start approaching candidates to head up a revamped Crossrail. Rob Holden, the man who led the construction of the high-speed Channel Tunnel extension, is in line for the chief executive’s role. However, he is known to favour the chairmanship, for which he would compete by Mr Oakervee.