The East West Rail Western Section will re-establish a passenger and freight railway between Oxford, Bedford, Milton Keynes, and Aylesbury. This scheme will enhance the rail network and create more journey opportunities with reduced journey times and better connections to the Great Western, West Coast and Midland Main Line services, avoiding the need to travel via London. It will reconnect major centres including Aylesbury, Milton Keynes, Bedford, Bicester, and Oxford.

What work is required in the next phase?

Phase 2 of the project – a £1 billion programme - involves improving and reconstructing underused and disused sections of a former railway and represents a significant piece of infrastructure investment in the region.

The construction works are being delivered by the East West Rail Alliance – consisting of Atkins, Laing O’Rourke, Network Rail and VolkerRail. They include a combination of reinstating mothballed sections of track work and constructing new double track sections, as well as new stations at Winslow & Bletchley High level, platform extensions at Aylesbury, Ridgmont and Woburn Sands, the closure of 72 level crossings and the construction of 24 new bridge structures.

Not only will the East West Rail scheme support economic growth through residential and commercial development along the line of route, boosting business growth and attracting new business and inward investment, the construction works also provide numerous opportunities for local businesses of all sizes to get involved with.

Opportunities for the local supply chain

The opportunities open to the local and SME supply chain will cover a multitude of trades and services delivering directly to the project, indirectly working for larger contractors on the project or providing support services to the project, e.g. catering services, office cleaning, transport, waste management etc.

East West Rail are planning to utilise CompeteFor to seek expressions of interest for direct packages of work and to advertise supply chain events, as well as to help manage the pre-qualification process. East West Rail will mandate the use of CompeteFor to advertise packages being offered by the larger contractors on the project to ensure that all tiers of the supply chain are given opportunities. This will enable East West Rail to measure and monitor spend with the local and SME supply chain.

How do businesses hear about East West Rail contract opportunities?

Sign up for free to CompeteFor and set email notifications for East West Rail contracts. East West Rail are currently in the process of setting up the promotion of opportunities on CompeteFor, so check back periodically over the following weeks and months.

Supply chain events planned

Over the next 12-18 months a series of supply chain events and workshops involving all tiers of the supply chain will be held to provide information on progress, up and coming opportunities and how to become procurement ready, i.e. pre-qualifying, bid compliance, etc.

Get more information on East West Rail contract opportunities

To learn more about the opportunities available on the East West Rail project, come to the ‘Focus on Procurement’ event on November 21st to hear from representatives from the East West Rail Alliance.

Our contact details

Email BusinessSupport@bbf.uk.com, call 01494 927130 or visit www.bbf.uk.com for more information and support.