Sap Tech ... Sept 2008

Several local and foreign companies, including Sapura Technology Bhd, have bid for work under the RM3.45 billion project to lay parallel railway lines between Seremban and Gemas. Sapura Tech, for instance, has made a RM100 million bid to carry out telecommunication works.

The main contractor for the project is India's national railway firm, Indian Railway Construction Co International Ltd (Ircon).

Ircon had called for tenders for electrification, signalling and telecommunication packages. This is the second round of tenders after it awarded initial works in May 2008.

Global Rail Sdn Bhd, Australia's Westinghouse Rail Systems and Ansaldo Signal, and Germany's Siemens have also bid for several packages.

Global Rail had made a RM300 million bid to design, supply, construct, test and commission several packages consisting of signaling and electrification works, train protection system and rail-track point machines. Global Rail, a railway engineering firm, is controlled by Fan Boon Heng, who headed Balfour Beatty Rail Sdn Bhd for over 15 years.

The proposals made by Ansaldo, Westinghouse and Siemens are in the range of RM280 million to RM380 million.

Ircon is still deciding whether to award the jobs based on the proposals or break them down into smaller packages so it could undertake offshore procurement on its own and give the installation work to local contractors.

The four-year Seremban-Gemas project, which covers 110km, is fully funded by the government. It will cover 34 river bridges, 27 road bridges, 107 culverts, two viaducts of 1.25km and 0.6km lengths and an 8km tunnel. Ircon expects to complete building the first stretch from Seremban to Sg Gadut by early 2009, and then from Sg Gadut to Gemas in 2011.
It has awarded contracts to build stations, bridges, railway embarkment, culverts, drainages and foundation for track laying to Loh & Loh Corp Bhd, Fajarbaru Builder Group Bhd and IJM Corp Bhd. These are worth some RM1.1 billion in total.