Media centre

Tuesday 26 Apr 2005

10% SAVING ACHIEVED FOLLOWING AWARD OF WOODEN SLEEPERS CONTRACTS

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National

Significant savings have been achieved following the award of contracts for wooden sleepers across the UK.  Network Rail needs around 200,000 wooden sleepers each year and the purchase and delivery of these sleepers currently costs Network Rail around £14 million a year. Trackwork of Doncaster and Newport based, Burt, Boulton & Haywood Ltd, with additional manufacturing capacity in Leven, Scotland, have been selected from a range of companies in a competitive field.  The new one-year ’framework’ contracts with the option to extend for another year, represent a key element of Network Rail’s task of rebuilding Britain’s railway.  They will deliver cost reductions of around 10% and will see significant improvements in value for money through: ·         improved, tighter quality control ·         reduction in charges through competitive pricing ·         standardisation of process across the country ·         better use of resources Network Rail Deputy Chief Executive Iain Coucher said: “The award of these contracts is a step toward our goal of controlling costs, while delivering a more reliable railway infrastructure and better train performance. The huge task of rebuilding our railway is well underway.”