Construction and Infrastructure: Rail and Roads

Our lawyers have represented companies, financiers, and other market participants on project management, design, construction, operation, finance, and maintenance projects for intercity and metropolitan rail systems; electrified light rail and streetcar systems; subway and heavy rail systems; freight rail projects; urban and regional bus systems; paratransit or other specialized roadway transit services; highway, bridge, tunnel, and toll road projects; port and station facilities; and virtually every other type of transportation infrastructure project. Our breadth and depth of experience in the construction aspects of rail projects, combined with the commercial approach we take to transactions and dispute resolution, enables us to provide one of the most experienced transportation teams currently operating in the market.

We have assisted our clients on entity formation and negotiation of joint venture agreements; procurement compliance and strategy issues and preparation of responsive bid materials; the negotiation and preparation of operation and service agreements, subcontractor agreements, financing agreements, and license and other regulatory applications; and all other commercial and legal elements of transportation infrastructure and service agreement transactions. We represent clients in connection with all types of delivery models, including design-build procurements and transactions financed with project revenues or developer financing.

We act for clients in road and rail infrastructure, utilities, commercial and freight contracts and agreements, operation and maintenance agreements, supply chain management, and multimodal transport and logistics. Our experience also extends to the negotiation and drafting of rolling stock supply and maintenance agreements together with all other arrangements typically required for road and rail access, including competition experience.

Our lawyers represent companies on a wide range of road and rail matters, including:

• Project management
• Infrastructure—design and construction
• Concessions
• Project finance
• Asset finance and domestic and cross-border leasing
• Operation and maintenance
• Subway and heavy rail systems
• Freight rail projects
• Environment and climate change
• Emissions trading schemes
• Noise reduction
• Regulatory issues—transportation and handling

In the United States, we have an extensive Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) regulatory practice. Our lawyers have represented freight railroads, commuter railroads, railroad contractors, public transit agencies, and rail transit systems in proceedings before the FRA involving the scope and applicability of the federal railroad safety laws, regulatory waivers, quiet zones, agency rulemakings, compliance issues, enforcement matters, and penalty settlements. In fact, our lawyers have obtained more Shared Use Waiver petitions for public transit systems than any other law firm.

Across the United Kingdom and Europe, we regularly advise on contractual arrangements to optimize delivery and reduce overheads, providing market intelligence and advice on navigating the maze of regulatory and procedural requirements. One of our particular specialties is obtaining value from the supply chain using forms of incentivization, collaborative working arrangements, and various delivery mechanisms, including all forms of alliancing, partnering, KPI and cost-sharing mechanisms, as well as providing contractual tools to foster and maintain collaborative working relationships between the infrastructure manager and the supply chain. This is particularly important for long-term operation and maintenance contracts. We have advised on whole life cost contracts with terms in excess of 20 years using the NEC and other forms. We have also advised on numerous alliancing contracts (both bespoke and using standard forms such as FAC/1) and mechanisms to incentivize contractors to cooperate, particularly in relation to access to the railway including possessions and closures.