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Euro-Notice Marks Next Step In Leeds Supertram Scheme:
Metro, the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive has today issued the formal notice to OJEC (the Official Journal of the European Community).The Notice marks the first stage in the procurement process for the GBP500 million Public/Private Partnership concession to design, build, operate and maintain Leeds Supertram.
After the notice has appeared, interested parties will be sent a pre-qualification questionnaire, applications will then be evaluated and an initial shortlist of 4 bidders will be created in Spring 2002. After initial bids during 2002 this will be reduced to two contenders, who will each be asked to submit their best and final offer. The contract will be awarded by summer 2003.
When it is completed in 2007, Leeds Supertram will be a 28km network providing the city with state-of-the-art transport services along three prime routes and a city centre loop. A full revision of the original economic study of system patronage is currently being undertaken, but the system is projected to carry 22 million people per year, 25% of whom will be former car users. This will remove an estimated 64 million vehicle kilometres from the city's roads each year thereby greatly contributing to the reduction of congestion and improvements in the environment.
After a full endorsement of the viability of the scheme, Leeds Supertram received the go-ahead for funding from the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions in March 2001. The public funding for the scheme will be provided by Central Government, Metro and Leeds City Council, with the remainder raised by the concessionaire. Payments will be made to the successful bidder through milestone payments for the construction period and availability payments during operation.
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24 November 2001
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