Global Centre of Rail Excellence

The Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE) is a £250m facility being constructed in South Wales that will become Europe’s leading rail innovation centre. Supported by both the Welsh and UK Governments, the facility will provide a ‘one stop shop’ for testing new rolling stock and supporting world class research and development of new rail infrastructure, technologies processes and skills, filling a strategic gap in UK and European rail.

Operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the GCRE facility will include two electrified test loops, one a 6.9km high speed rolling stock track and the other a 4km track for heavy infrastructure testing. Fully operational in 2025 it will become the UK’s first ever net zero railway, supporting the innovation needed to support decarbonisation and lower the costs of major rail infrastructure projects.

We recently held a ‘Meet the Buyer’ event where we outlined potential opportunities being developed and we’ve made a short video, providing a recap of what was covered. The link can be found here: GCRE Meet the Buyer Event - November 2022 - YouTube

Potential opportunities may include, but are not guaranteed or limited to:
 - Programme, Project and Commercial Management, Site supervision and Design Assurance
 - Passive Rail Systems (e.g. permanent way, OLE, troughing/ducting, major civils)
 - Active Rail Systems (e.g. signalling, SCADA, control room, telecoms, power)
 - Rail related materials (e.g. S&C, ballast, rail, sleepers, stop blocks)
Fencing

Future opportunities will be published on this project page.