SWISS manufacturer Stadler has appealed against Danish State Railways’ (DSB) decision to award Alstom a contract worth more than DKr 20bn ($US 3.2bn) to supply a minimum of 100 single-deck five-car EMUs, the biggest contract in the operator’s history.
DSB expects to buy up to 150 of the trains, which will form the backbone of an entirely electric future fleet. However, Stadler has lodged a complaint with the Procurement Appeals Board, arguing that Alstom’s bid did not meet the requirements set out by DSB in its European-wide tender.
The trains will be based on Alstom’s Coradia Stream platform, which are already in service in Italy. Alstom will be responsible for maintaining the trains at two new dedicated workshops in Aarhus and Copenhagen for up to 40 years.
“It is not uncommon in a tender of this size for the losing party to complain about the decision,” says Mr Jürgen Müller, director of strategy and rolling stock at DSB. “For example, we are aware of two recent cases in Austria and Switzerland where Alstom has lodged an appeal against awards to Stadler. I would like to emphasise that, in assessing the bids, DSB chose the bid which, in the solution offered, met the technical requirements and which was also the most attractive from an economic point of view. In other words, it is the offer where DSB got the most value for money.
“We could not have awarded the contract differently based on the tender. We have run a professional and transparent tender process and this is also the feedback we have received from the market. I therefore hope that we can settle the matter as soon as possible so that we can proceed with the procurement.”
DSB expects the Procurement Appeals Board to decide within 30 days whether the complaint has enough merit to suspend delivery of the new fleet. This is expected to commence in 2024 and continue until 2029 at which point DSB’s diesel IC3 and IC4 trains will be removed from service.
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