Vianen, The Netherlands – The M-PACT Team of GrantRail Limited & Laing O’Rourke Civil Engineering Limited is delighted to announce the award of Preferred Partner Status for the construction of Line 1 of the prestigious MerseyTram project.

The multi-million pound project is initially for Line 1 of the proposed Metro which will extend from Kings Dock to Kirkby, a total of 16.9km of track together with the associated highway works, The Depot and Park and Ride facilities.

Line 1 will be completed by December 2007 to meet the commencement of the Capital of Culture 2008.

Gren Edwards, Chief Executive of GrantRail Group, said: “This award is great news for GrantRail/Laing O’Rourke (M-PACT JV), it is the culmination of a tremendous effort on the part of both our companies to attain this position. It represents a landmark for us in that it demonstrates the capability of the Group to undertake and manage a major complex contract as Prime Contractor.

Mike Robins, Laing O’Rourke Civil Engineering Group Business Leader, was full of praise for the team that have been working on the presentation of the bid to the MerseyTram management. He said: “This is a major achievement for them in successfully bidding for this prestigious project. The MerseyTram management have been receptive to innovative ideas which has brought competitive, value added engineering solutions to the whole project proposal. We have extensive experience in successfully delivering light rail schemes and look forward to developing the integrated delivery team with the Client and Professional Team to ensure project success for 2008”.

GrantRail Group
GrantRail Group is jointly owned by the Dutch-based construction group VolkerWessels and Anglo-Dutch steel company Corus. The Group is part of one of Europe’s largest Railway contracting groups. GrantRail Limited is the chief operating arm of the GrantRail Group. It is a UK and Ireland based organisation offering a wide range of contracting services. It is supported by its other Group member companies covering Signalling, Welding and other railway construction services.

The M-Pact partners have previous extensive experience of working together on major infrastructure projects including the construction of Manchester Metrolink and Midland Metro.