National Express begins operations on RH 7 / RB 48 lines
As of December 13, 2015, National Express will commence operations of the lines RH 7 from Rheine to Krefeld Central Station and RB 48 from Wuppertal-Oberbarmen to Bonn-Mehlem. These are the first transport services provided by the British group’s subsidiary in Germany.
Special purpose association Nahverkehr Westfalen-Lippe, Nahverkehr Rheinland GmbH, and transport association Rhein-Ruhr AöR had advertised the transport services for bid with the assistance of Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek. For the first time, the “VRR vehicle financing model,” where vehicles are selected by bidders and financed by the contracting authorities, was used in a large bidding procedure. The train line operator benefits from favorable financing conditions of the public sector, which is the owner of the vehicles.
“We are pleased to see the result of the award procedure,” said Dr. Ute Jasper, Lawyer and Partner at Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek. “After the 12-month award procedure, National Express only needed two and a half years to procure the vehicles from Bombardier,” added Dr. Christopher Marx, Lawyer in Dr. Jasper’s team and responsible for contract design.
Previously, the vehicle financing model had only been used at the advertisement for bids of the RB 47 line and at the Haard axis and the S5 and S8 rapid-transit railway lines. Following the success at the bidding procedures of the RH 7 / RB 48 lines, the VRR vehicle financing model was used at numerous other advertisements for bids. In addition, the German state of Baden-Württemberg successfully uses a further development of the model as “BW model.”
Dr. Ute Jasper is one of the best-known lawyers for public procurement and public infrastructure projects. She advises federal and state ministries, municipalities, and companies. Ute Jasper heads Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek's "Public Sector & Public Procurement" department. For years, she has been ranked number 1 in JUVE Handbook of Commercial Law Firms 2014/2015, and according to "Law Firms in Germany" is the "premier contact on the market" for infrastructure.
Dr. Christopher Marx is a lawyer in the "Public Sector & Public Procurement“ Practice Group, Düsseldorf.
Counsel to Rhine-Ruhr Transport Association:
Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek:
Dr. Ute Jasper
Dr. Christopher Marx
