The three shortlisted bidders are:• Alstom Transport Australia• Momentum West (a consortium of CAF and UGL), and• EDI Rail - Bombardier Transportation. The suburb of Bellevue has been chosen as the preferred site for a new vehicle assembly facility, which will also be co-located with the Public Transport Authority’s new depot, where Transperth will maintain the broader train fleet. A development application for the depot on the same site is currently before the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority, with approval expected in the coming weeks. A decision on the preferred bidder for the rolling stock contract will be made in early 2019 and a key consideration will be the ability to manufacture 50% of the vehicles locally. The first stage of the project involves the delivery in 2021 of 102 vehicles (17 six-car sets) to serve the new Metronet projects as they come online. A follow-on order for 144 vehicles (24 six-car sets), to replace the ageing A series EMUs will also be included in the tender and these will be delivered between 2023 and 2028.
