CFR announced on October 30 that the contract has been awarded to the RailWorks Association, comprising Aktor, Greece, Alstom, and local companies Arcada and Euroconstruct Trading, following a re-assessment of the bids. Turkish companies Alsim Alarko and Makyol were initially awarded the Leu 2.85bn ($US 666.3m) contract in January. The new contract with Railworks is worth Leu 2.73bn.
CFR did reveal why it re-evaluated the bids, or why RailWorks’ bid was selected after being unsuccessful the first time.
The European Union is financing 81.74% of the project through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), with the remaining 18.26% coming from the state budget.
Alarko and Makyol have since lodged an appeal with Romania’s National Council for Resolving Complaints against the decision.
The project will upgrade the 28km line to allow for a maximum speed of 160km/h for passenger services and 120km/h for freight. Rehabilitation will be carried out on bridges, underpasses and tunnels while civil works will be carried out at several stations including signalling and electrical installations.
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