IN Brief:
- The scheme will integrate rail, bus, taxi, cycling, and pedestrian facilities.
- Five contractors are expected to progress to the main tender stage.
- Contract award is planned for February 2027, with construction running to 2030.
Transport for Wales has begun procuring a design-and-build contractor for the £33m redevelopment of Caerphilly railway station and its adjoining bus interchange.
The project will replace the existing facilities with an integrated transport hub combining rail, bus, taxi, pedestrian, and cycling connections. New passenger accommodation, retail space, shelters, waiting areas, public realm, and interchange facilities are included within the developing scope.
Using a two-stage procurement process, Transport for Wales expects to shortlist five bidders for the principal competition. Final tenders are scheduled to be returned in November, followed by contract award in February 2027.
Construction is expected to begin in March 2027 and continue until March 2030, with an option to extend the programme into 2031 if required. Expressions of interest and participation requests are due by 26 August.
Developed with the Cardiff Capital Region and local public bodies, the interchange forms part of the wider South Wales Metro programme. Its layout is intended to make transfers between transport modes simpler while giving the station a stronger physical and functional relationship with Caerphilly town centre.
Although the project includes new passenger buildings, much of its complexity will lie in the interfaces between rail operations, highways, utilities, platforms, structures, drainage, and public space. Construction must proceed while maintaining safe access for passengers, buses, taxis, emergency services, staff, and neighbouring businesses.
The design-and-build contractor will work across requirements set by Transport for Wales, railway standards, highway authorities, bus operators, utility providers, planning bodies, and accessibility regulations. Decisions affecting one mode can alter the operation of another, with road geometry influencing buses while platform access shapes lifts, stairs, crossings, and pedestrian routes.
Through the two-stage process, the selected contractor should be able to contribute buildability, logistics, cost, and programme information before the final construction position is fixed. Intrusive surveys and operational constraints can then be considered before major subcontract packages or temporary arrangements are committed.
Clear commercial rules will be needed around the development of the final price, design responsibility, pre-construction services, risk transfer, and compensation for tender-stage work. Without a defined route into the main contract, two-stage procurement can postpone disputes over cost rather than resolve them.
The planned three-year construction period reflects the amount of phasing likely to be required. Passenger routes may move repeatedly while separate parts of the hub are completed, and temporary bus stops or circulation changes could be needed to maintain services.
Each interim arrangement must operate as a functioning interchange, rather than simply as an incomplete portion of the final design. Lighting, shelter, signage, platform access, crossing points, and passenger information will remain necessary throughout the works.
Accessibility will be embedded across the rail, highway, and public-realm elements. Level routes, gradients, lifts, tactile information, seating, lighting, wayfinding, and protected crossing points must work as a connected system, particularly for passengers transferring between modes.
Improved infrastructure can remove practical barriers to public-transport use, although passenger growth will also depend on service frequency, reliability, fares, and onward connections. The construction programme will provide the physical setting for integration, while network operation will determine how effectively that setting is used.
Bidders will need experience spanning operational railways, highways, structures, buildings, passenger facilities, building services, and stakeholder management. The number of disciplines involved is likely to favour teams capable of integrating design and construction controls across the whole site.
Following the August participation deadline, Transport for Wales will form the shortlist and move into the main tender stage before the end of 2026. Award in February 2027 would allow only a short period for mobilisation and final approvals before the proposed March start.
