Accenture makes M50 bid

Portuguese toll-road operator Brisa and US consultancy Accenture are among a number of groups bidding for a multi-million euro contract to run the new toll system on the M50 around Dublin.

The two companies said yesterday they have submitted a 50-50 joint bid to develop and run the tolling system on 40 kilometres of the M50 ring road.

The deadline for pre-qualification bids was Thursday and a spokesman for the National Roads Authority (NRA), which put the contract out to tender on behalf of the Government, said yesterday there had been "significant" interest.

He declined to be more precise or to outline the value of the contract, but said the entries are being examined by the NRA's public-private partnership team.

The tender is for the design, installation, operation and maintenance of the system, which will need to support free-flow tolling of the M50 motorway, the State's best-known bottleneck. The winner will also have to provide back office support for the system and manage enforcement and violation processes.

The Government in January announced plans to remove the controversial West Link toll barrier on the M50 within the next three years and replace it with a new barrier-free tolling system. The toll is blamed for many of the road's delays. Barrier-free systems already operate on some motorways in Europe and a similar one is in operation in London to control payment of the city's daily congestion charge.

The M50 carries about 100,000 vehicles a day, and significant revenue will be drawn from the drivers using it on a daily basis.

The contract is due to commence after the completion of the upgrade of the M50, which is part of a separate tender. Under the terms of that contract, a 25-kilometre stretch of the M50 is being expanded to six lanes from the current four to reduce some of the heavy congestion.

As a result of this necessary work, the latest contract won't start until some time after 2008, when National Toll Roads (NTR), which operates the toll bridge, has no part to play in the operation or setting of tolls on the route. This parting of ways between NTR and the toll bridge follows the collapse of talks between it and the NRA. Under the new plans, the State will buy out NTR's right to operate a toll plaza on the road in a compensation package worth €900 million.

Brisa, founded in 1972, is the largest Portuguese motorway operator and a leading player in the sector in Europe. It operates 1,050 kilometres of motorway in Portugal and holds stakes in the largest motorway concession holders in Brazil and Spain. Accenture declined to comment on its part in the venture.