CDPQ Infra, a subsidiary of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, has announced its decision to keep its tender process for the Réseau électrique métropolitain (REM) open and launch a period of intensive discussions with the qualified consortiums for the engineering and construction contract. As such the tender process will remain open until the end of January 2018, and the preferred consortiums will be selected by mid-February 2018.
From the start of the project, CDPQ Infra has based its work on two important principles: rigour and the pursuit of the best value for money. In the last few weeks, it has analyzed the submissions for the project’s two contracts.
- For the engineering and construction contract, detailed analyses have demonstrated that additional discussions are required to achieve the best value for money. CDPQ Infra has therefore decided to launch a period of intensive discussions with the qualified consortiums for this contract.
- The same verification and validation mechanisms overseen by the two external auditors and the Independent Committee, as set out in the process, will apply to the period of intensive discussions with the bidders.
For the rolling stock and operations contract, proposals received are in line with the major principles set by CDPQ Infra. Therefore, additional discussions are not currently planned.
Following this discussion period, construction of the REM will begin in the spring.
The $6.04-billion REM project will be a new integrated network linking downtown Montreal, South Shore, West Island, North Shore, and the airport. It will be the third largest automated transportation systems in the world after Dubai (80 kilometres) and Vancouver (68 kilometres). The new network will add 27 stations and 67 kilometres to the Montreal’s areas transit network.
