Procurement bosses at Network Rail last week briefed 25 of the country’s biggest contractors and engineering firms about the shake-up.
Under the plans contractors and designers will be brought on board at a much earlier stage to help develop project options and speed up delivery.
The new contracting strategy represents the biggest reform since rail privatisation and will be rolled out on seven major projects.
Simon Kirby, Network Rail’s director, investment projects, said: “The rail industry must reduce costs and these radical reforms will revolutionise the way we deliver our projects, helping to slash red tape and restrictive bureaucracy while generating significant cost savings and efficiencies.
“By ‘joint-venturing’ with our suppliers in this way, we can create an environment that fully integrates our delivery partners into our projects to achieve a common goal, helping Network Rail deliver a bigger, better value railway.”
Under the new contracting strategy Network Rail aims to adopt a market-led approach to project delivery, helping the company identify where costs can be cut across its renewals and enhancement programmes.
Early involvement will see suppliers fully integrated into Network Rail’s delivery teams to develop project options and deliver the best solutions.
- Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme
- Thameslink at London Bridge
- High-output delivery of the Great Western electrification scheme
- National major resignalling projects
- Birmingham Gateway
- Hitchin flyover on the East Coast main line
- Civils renewals programme
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