Four consortiums have been shortlisted by the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) to build Dublin's proposed €5 billion Metro North.
The four, which include major international banks and engineering conglomerates, have until November to find partners from any of five companies identified by the RPA as suitable to operate the metro when it is due to open in 2012.
The consortiums will also be required to pick partners from an approved list of providers of rolling stock.
The RPA hopes to be in a position to go to tender on the project by early next year. However, this means that construction work is unlikely to start before the end of 2008, making it doubtful whether the project can be up and running by its initial Transport 21 date of 2012.
Metro North will run from St Stephen's Green to Swords via the airport.
Among the firms shortlisted to operate the system are Keolis, a major public transport operator of metros with systems running in Lyons and other European cities; Hong Kong-based MTR Corporation Ltd, previously known as Mass Transit Railway Corporation; Transdev SA, one of France's largest public transport operators; and Veolia, the international utilities firm which currently operates the Luas.
Attempts to determine the principals in another shortlisted operator, First Dublin Metro Ltd, were not successful yesterday.
Metro: going to tender
• Cathró, a consortium of worldwide engineering company Fluor, asset managers BAM, German multinational engineers Siemens and Austrian construction company Strabag.
• Celtic Metro Group, which comprises Barclays Private Equity; Spanish construction group OHL; Japanese financiers Mitsui and Portuguese construction company Soares da Costa.
• Dublin Express Link, which involves HSBC Infrastructure Fund Management; Meridiam Infrastructure Finance; Irish construction firm Siac; transport and environmental energy group Acciona; French construction and utilities group Bouygues; equipment and services provider Alstom and rail consultants Spie Rail.
• Metro Express, which comprises Macquarie Bank, AIB, Communications group FCC; bankers Caja Madrid and transport firm Bombardier.
