Canada launches RFQ for High Frequency Rail Project, RFP to begin in summer 2023
Image credit: Transport Canada
The Minister of Transport in Canada, The Honourable Omar Alghabra, has launched the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for the High Frequency Rail project to identify and qualify up to three top candidates who will be invited to participate in the Request for Proposals (RFP) process, anticipated to begin in summer 2023.
Budget 2022 provided Transport Canada and Infrastructure Canada with close to $400 million over two years, starting in 2022-23, to advance key project activities and undertake the procurement phase. The selected private developer partner will work with VIA HFR, the newly created subsidiary of VIA Rail, to design and develop the High Frequency Rail project.
The RFQ follows the Request for Expressions of Interest that opened in March 2022. It launches the formal procurement process and outlines:
- Context and features of the High Frequency Rail project (e.g., current challenges in the Corridor, purpose of the project, and objectives);
- Procurement process, including evaluation criteria of proposals, security requirements for candidates, funding support for proposal development during the RFP process, and key principles of the commercial agreement for the execution phase;
- Key players in the project (e.g., VIA HFR, private developer partner, VIA Rail, Government of Canada) and how they will work together; and
- Project outcomes that the private developer partner will be expected to meet or exceed (e.g., shorter journey times, more frequent departures, more reliable service, etc.).
The RFQ would include opportunities to increase speeds beyond 200 km/hr on some segments of the High Frequency Rail project, if it is cost effective to do so.
The next steps in the High Frequency Rail procurement process include:
- Evaluation of RFQ submissions and identification of Qualified Respondents: April-July 2023
- Launch of RFP: August-September 2023
- Evaluation of RFP submissions: summer 2024
To qualify as a candidate for the RFP, RFQ respondents will be required to demonstrate a capacity for reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.
Source: Transport Canada
