CLIENT'S OBJECTIVES AND PROJECT OVERVIEW:

As part of Revitalising Newcastle, the Government is delivering light rail, the Newcastle Interchange, better transport services, road and intersection upgrades, and revitalisation of land in the former heavy rail corridor, including improved public spaces.

Major construction of the light rail finished in late 2018 and services began operating in February 2019.

The alignment is 2.7 km long, running from Newcastle Interchange at Wickham to Newcastle Beach in Newcastle East. Stops are located at Newcastle Interchange, Honeysuckle (near Hunter Street TAFE), Civic, Crown Street, Market Street and Pacific Park.

OUR ROLE:

Our Advisors acted as the procurement managers for the Newcastle Light Rail project and delivered the following services:

managing the Registration of Interest (ROI) phase for the Newcastle Light Rail Managing Contractor, including preparing the ROI documentation (including evaluation methodology), conducting an industry briefing in Newcastle, resolving industry queries during the tender process, coordinating probity issues with the nominated probity advisor, managing the ROI evaluation, shortlisting companies for the tender phase, and conducting ROI de-briefs sessions
managing the tender phase for the Newcastle Light Rail
Fixed Infrastructure Contract (Managing Contract) including preparing tender documentation (including the evaluation methodology), conducting an industry briefing, tenderer interactives, resolving industry queries, coordinating probity issues with the nominated probity advisor, managing the tender evaluation process (including post-tender presentations) and conducting tenderer de-briefs sessions
preparing the final managing contractor contract for the Newcastle Light Rail - Fixed Infrastructure Contract for contract execution, including coordination with TfNSW legal counsel, commercial and procurement departments
delivering the Delivery Strategy report for the Newcastle Light Rail report following the outcomes of workshops held during the project inception
preparing and coordinating the TfNSW internal approvals for the Delivery Strategy for the Newcastle Light Rail, ROI and tender documents, evaluation methodology, tender recommendations and the final contract documents for execution, and
supporting the minor works early packages and external consultant engagement for the Newcastle Light Rail project with various minor procurement activities.

KEY OUTCOMES:

Our Advisors worked within the integrated project team through all phases of the procurement of this significant project for TfNSW. Our Advisors’ leadership and experience resulted in timeframes being met and high-quality outcomes being achieved for the client.

Some of the key outcomes of our Advisors’ involvement includes:

preparing the Delivery Strategy report and obtaining the subsequent approval of the strategy
coordinating, supporting and successfully completing the ROI phase, including developing high-quality tender documents
coordinating the various teams, including client, legal, environmental and technical advisors
supporting TfNSW during the tender period, including responding to requests for comment raised by tenderers and resolving various issues, which led to the drafting and issuing of addenda
preparing of the evaluation strategy and evaluation plan
ensuring compliance with the deed requirements and providing effective and responsive commercial advice
coordinating of the evaluation phase, and
coordinating and preparing the final contract documents.

CG Team Members Involved: