RRX starts operations – Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek supports client
Beginning December 9, 2018, the first RRX trains, the premium product for local transport, will be operating in North Rhine-Westphalia. Abellio will deploy the first 15 of 82 trains of the billion euro project on the RE 11 line between Düsseldorf and Kassel. As manufacturer, Siemens will maintain the trains and guarantee their availability until 2050. Passenger comfort is set to increase noticeably: there will be more seats, Wi-Fi, electrical outlets, largely barrier-free access, and increased performance to make up for any delays.
The clients are the special purpose associations VRR, NWL, NVR, ZSPNV-Nord, and NVV. The team led by Dr. Ute Jasper designed the NRW-RRX model jointly with the clients, advised on the award procedure, and supports the clients in performing the contracts. “RRX represents a milestone for local public transport in North Rhine-Westphalia. Due to the manufacturer’s responsibility for the trains and for energy consumption, quality will increase significantly,” said Ute Jasper, Head of Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek’s Public Sector & Public Procurement Practice Group. “It is nice to see that the NRW-RRX model that serves as an example for many Germany-wide bids is now actually going into operation,” added Christopher Marx, who is responsible for contracts in the team.
Background:
The basis is what is referred to as the NRW-RRX model, which the participating transport associations, primarily Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR), have developed with the Heuking team. In the process, the bids for operation of the lines were separated from those for production, supply, and maintenance, which allowed for implementing the RRX target system at a later stage after completion of the infrastructure. By 2030, Deutsche Bahn intends to rebuild the 106-kilometer line between Cologne-Mülheim and Dortmund to create overtaking opportunities. Total costs amount to EUR 3.45 billion, including the investments for expanding the seven RRX lines and the acquisition of the 82 RRX trains.
Featuring shorter interval times and improved comfort, the RRX will significantly increase regional rail passenger transport quality. For the first time, Siemens as the manufacturer will not only build the vehicles, but also maintain and repair them and be responsible for their energy consumption. The Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek team has been a market leader in regional rail passenger transport advice for many years and has already designed numerous innovative award concepts for the public sector.
More information on the RRX can be found on the RRX website.
The Public Sector & Public Procurement department led by Ute Jasper has been one of the three best procurement law practices for years. Since 1991, it has advised on awards, restructuring, large-scale projects, and cooperations in the public sector and has accompanied several hundred large-scale projects of the federal, state and local authorities and their subsidiaries with a total volume of more than EUR 20 billion without any procedures having been successfully challenged.
Dr. Ute Jasper is one of the most renowned lawyers for procurement and infrastructure projects in the public sector. She advises federal and state ministries, municipalities, and businesses, particularly on innovative and complex projects. 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, most recently in its 2017/2018 issue, and according to “Law Firms in Germany,” is the “premier contact on the market” for infrastructure. In October 2016, she received the JUVE Award for Regulated Industries with her team.
Dr. Christopher Marx is a lawyer in the Public Sector & Public Procurement Practice Group, Düsseldorf. His practice focuses on complex and innovative projects in public procurement law as well as on the drafting of contracts under civil law.
