Procurement of Railway Infrastructure Projects – A European Benchmarking Study
Abstract: This benchmarking
study compares how railway investments are procured in five European countries:
Sweden, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK. In total, 19 procurement
managers and project managers were interviewed. This study compares the
national rail clients’ procurement strategies regarding: delivery system,
reward system, contractor selection, and collaboration model. Historically,
these clients have used in-house production. The first step towards a gradually
increased usage of the market was to outsource the construction activities
while keeping the design and development competence in-house. All five
countries have mainly used Design-Bid-Build contracts in their initial
outsourcing. However, the last few years there is a discernible trend in
Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and the UK towards allocating more design and
development responsibilities to contractors (i.e. Design-Build contracts) and
increasing the strategic focus on cooperation. The UK and the Netherlands are
forerunners in this trend that can be viewed as a third step in the transition
towards a market oriented railway sector. Norway and Sweden is in the middle of
this transition, whereas Germany has not initiated this change. The transition
towards a gradually increased usage of the market has two main dimensions;
degree of cooperation and degree of contractor freedom, which differs among the
countries. The UK and Sweden focus on increasing both these dimensions, while
The Netherlands and Norway mostly focus on increasing the degree of contractor
freedom. Germany still limits both dimensions by performing design and
development in-house and letting contractors compete for construction work in
Design-Bid-Build contracts. Due to historical and cultural reasons, Deutsche
Bahn in Germany is very hesitant to engage in collaboration with external
suppliers; focusing on competition is considered more appropriate and less
controversial.
Keywords: Competition;
Cooperation; Infrastructure Projects; Railway Investments; Public Procurement
Author: Per Erik Eriksson,
Sofia Lingegård, Lena Borg, Johan Nyström
Journal Code: jptsipilgg170019
