13/01/2012

RFF selects Bouygues for the public-private partnership (PPP) contract for the Nimes and Montpellier bypass line

  RFF selects Bouygues for the public-private partnership (PPP) contract for the Nimes and Montpellier bypass line ( PDF,  177.4 kb )

This €2 billion infrastructure project, scheduled for commissioning in 2017, will be the first high-speed line designed for use by both freight and passenger trains.

Réseau Ferré de France has selected Bouygues as its "preferred bidder" for the publicprivate partnership contract to design, build, maintain and fund the Nimes and Montpellier railway bypass.

The new line should substantially boost the quality and performance of rail services for :
a) freight trains, in particular those in transit to and from Spain,
b) high-speed passenger trains by offering greater accessibility to and from major urban centres in the Languedoc-Roussillon region,
c) regional trains for which greater capacity will be available.

As the extension to the existing Paris-Lyon and Mediterranean high-speed lines towards Spain, the bypass will be a further step towards completion of the European rail network.

Work on building the Nimes and Montpellier railway bypass is scheduled to begin at the end of 2012. The site is expected to last over four years and will, directly and indirectly, create some 6,000 jobs per year, a boon for the regional economy.
 

Four high-speed lines on the stocks at the same time

As a responsible rail-sector player, RFF has successfully completed the challenge of placing four high-speed line projects on the stocks at the same time, three in the form of public-private partnerships. The Nimes and Montpellier bypass follows on directly from the other contracts let in 2011 for the high-speed lines between Tours and Bordeaux and between Le Mans and Rennes.
For the East European HSL between Metz and Strasbourg currently under construction, RFF has elected to retain responsibility for contract and project management, continuing on from where it left off when the first section was commissioned in 2007.
All four lines will be placed in service by 2017. This is consistent with the decisions emerging from the Grenelle Environment Forum to build a further 2,000 km of new high-speed railway line by the year 2020.

The Nimes and Montpellier railway bypass: a public-private partnership contract

The decision to opt for a public-private partnership arrangement for the construction of this line, which was declared in the public interest on 16 May 2005, dates back to September 2008.

Following negotiations with the last two shortlisted candidates, Bouygues TP and Vinci Concessions, who submitted their final bids in October 2011, detailed examination of these bids and an extraordinary meeting of the Board of Directors on 12 January 2012, RFF has now named Bouygues as its preferred bidder.

The bids were scored on the basis of the four criteria of cost, financial and contractual robustness, technical and environmental quality of the proposal (including line construction times) and involvement of SME.

RFF hopes to be able to meet its target of having the final funding contract signed with the French State and local/regional authorities, namely the Languedoc-Roussillon Regional Council, the Gard General Council, the Montpellier municipal authorities and the Nimes municipal authorities, during the first half of 2012.

Once the contract has been signed, the contractor will have the task of building and
maintaining the new line for a total of 25 years and, in return, will receive public funding as well as grants from RFF. Organisation of train movements will remain the responsibility of RFF.

The first “mixed traffic” high-speed line and, as such, a boon for freight, regional and national passenger services

The Nimes and Montpellier is to be designed to be technically equipped to cater not only to passenger but also to freight trains. The aim of doubling the existing line between Nimes and Montpellier by building a high-speed line is to offer freight carriers a more reliable service in capacity terms and to cut a further 20 minutes off trip times for high-speed rail passengers.
The conventional line will, in future, be reserved for regional traffic, which will enable the number of regional trains in operation in Languedoc-Roussillon to be increased.

A further step towards the creation of a European railway network

As the natural extension to the Mediterranean high-speed line, the Nimes and Montpellier railway bypass represents a first stage in plans for a new line to link the Mediterranean HSL and the cross-border line between Perpignan and Figueras commissioned at end 2010, and from there on towards Barcelona and the Spanish network.

The bypass will form a further link in the European network and is designed to improve the accessibility and attractiveness of the regions concerned. It will contribute to the development of the European freight corridor between Spain and the rest of Europe and should prompt a modal shift of freight from road to rail.

It is also the first stage in plans for the Montpellier – Perpignan new line, preliminary studies on which were approved by the Minister last autumn with the choice of the strip of land within which the final route alignment has to be located.

First new stations built under RFF auspices

Two new stations are to be built on the new line bypassing Nimes and Montpellier, one for each of the two municipalities: in Manduel for Nimes and in the Odysseum district for Montpellier.

RFF’s ambition is to produce plans for these new stations in close association with the local authorities, the Montpellier and Nimes municipal authorities in particular, that will vastly improve high-speed services to the two localities, boost urban development and offer wellcoordinated connections with local services such as trams and TER regional trains.

These two stations will be the first for which RFF will take full responsibility.

For Hubert du Mesnil, Chairman and Chief Executive of RFF: "The future “mixed traffic” line is a new step toward the European railway construction. It will vastly improve rail services in the region for freight carriers and for high-speed and regional passenger trains. It will be a huge boon for the economic development and appeal of the areas concerned, which have joined forces with RFF in launching this major project. The candidate selected submitted a competitive bid that will enable the State, local authorities and RFF to meet their financial targets."

  RFF selects Bouygues for the public-private partnership (PPP) contract for the Nimes and Montpellier bypass line ( PDF,  177.4 kb )