Agenda item

(A report by Lee Rowley,Senior Project Leader, Major Schemes, which invites the Committee to consider a report on the Lincoln Eastern Bypass to enter into a contract with Network Rail for the construction of a railway bridge to allow the road to pass under the Lincoln to Spalding railway line. The views of the Committee will be reported to the Executive Councillor as part of his consideration of this item)

Consideration was given to a report which outlined a proposal, in relation to the Lincoln Eastern Bypass, to enter into a contract with Network Rail for the construction of a railway bridge to allow the road to pass under the Lincoln to Spalding Railway Line.  This bridge would be delivered by Network Rail on behalf of the County Council and as such as closure of the railway had been booked for February 2017.

To allow Network Rail to proceed, a legal document known as an Implementation Agreement was required to be signed by both the County Council and Network Rail.  This would allow Network Rail to seek authority through their funding processes to proceed with awarding a construction contract to their preferred bidder.

It was noted that this report was also due to be considered by the Executive Councillor for Highways, Transport and IT on 20 January 2016.

Members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

1. A three day closure of the railway line would be required, and it was noted that both freight and passenger trains used this route.  It was also the diversion route for the East Coast Mainline;

2. The County Council had been in discussion with Network Rail over a number of months, and there was a 'not to be exceeded' cost of £12m for the scheme;

3. An advantage to this aspect of the scheme being delivered by Network Rail was that it could be delivered quicker as they would be able to start work sooner;

4. The Implementation Agreement would give Network Rail the authority to spend the Council's money.  It was hoped that before any construction contract was awarded that the Council would have received confirmation of the orders;

5. The authority would lose around £500,000 if this scheme did not proceed;

6. Members were assured that Network Rail had procurement processes in place to ensure that value for money was obtained.  It was noted that four separate contractors had been through the procurement process for the design and build contract;

7. It was confirmed that the Sustrans route would be maintained;

8. Discussions were ongoing in relation to the amount of compensation which would need to be paid;

9. It was clarified that the payment to the Network Rail Fee Fund was a payment that was required for every scheme, and all payments went into a central pot.  The County Council would be able to claim from this pot in the event of any delays to the scheme, and any costs incurred by these delays;

10. It was noted that Network Rail had different powers to the Highway Authority, and that whilst the County Council would need to pay if the railway was disrupted for highway work, the same did not apply to disruptions to the highways for railway work.

RESOLVED

That the Committee support the recommendations to the Executive             Councillor set out in the report.