The capital’s transport agency, Transport for London (TfL) has confirmed that the prior information notice for the proposed Silvertown Tunnel PPP project will not be published this year, as previously planned.
Instead, the notice is now being scheduled for March next year, with the industry day to be held soon after. It had been planned for the notice to be issued and an industry day to take place before Christmas.
TfL said the delay was down to concerns over the number of other large projects being tendered around the same time, as well as next year’s mayoral election.
Pointing to £11.7bn of HS2 work to be tendered in seven lots and “a number of major European schemes, such as Paris Metro” running to next June, TfL said it is “conscious that tender teams will be significantly pressed over this period”.
It added: “This will ensure market awareness of the upcoming requirements and allow suppliers to respond, expressing an interest in bidding for the DBFM [design, build, finance, maintain] contract.”
The move also has the advantage of meaning that the notice will be issued after the close of the statutory consultation on the scheme, due on 29 November 2015. Provided there is no further consultation, TfL added that the development consent order (DCO) submission is expected to be made in early April 2016.