Months of delays have hit Auckland’s $3.4 billion City Rail Link (CRL) project following the withdrawal of a preferred bidder from the process.
It will cause hold-ups for the release of tender documents.
CRL chief executive Chris Meale says the withdrawal is disappointing but it won’t prevent progress on the project tender and discussions have already started with another prospective bidder.
“We are fortunate that the initial line-up of eight bidders for the project was exceptional and it was a hard choice to determine the top two.
“While we are naturally disappointed, we are moving on.”
Meale says it’s too early to tell if the three-month delay will roll into the current project completion date of early 2024.
The project’s eight bidders were Fletcher Construction, Acciona Infrastructure New Zealand, Bam International Australia, China Machinery Engineering Corporation joint venture, CPB Contractors, Ferrovial Agroman (New Zealand), Salini Impregilo SPA and Vinci Construction Grands Projets SAS (VCGP) joint venture.
A Fletcher spokesperson would not confirm if it was the company that made the exit, the New Zealand Herald reports.
It comes a week after Fletcher posted a $322 million half-year loss.
