Three consortia - Speedan, Metro Rail group, and MTS group - today submitted bids in the Tel Aviv light railway tender. The tenders committee and government-owned NTA Metropolitan Mass Transit System were worried in recent weeks that MTS would not submit a bid, after requesting a postponement.
Each of the bids includes 90 carriages. Under NTA’s timetable, the franchisee will be chosen within five months. The franchisee will simultaneously arrange financing, work on a detailed plan, and obtain building permits. The timetable calls for construction to begin in October 2007 and the first line, the Red Line, to begin running by the end of 2012.
The Tel Aviv light railway is a BOT (build, operate, transfer) infrastructure project. The chosen franchisee will build and operate the Red Line, running 22 km, including 10 km underground, from Bat Yam in the south, along Jerusalem Blvd. in Jaffa, the Manshiyeh neighborhood, the government compound and Azrieli Towers and Central Train Station at Arlozorov St. in Tel Aviv, through Ramat Gan and Bnei Brak to Beilinson Medical Center in Petah Tikva.
The tender’s pre-screening stage was published in 2001, and the RFP stage was published in November 2003.
The NIS 10 billion Tel Aviv light railway project has faced numerous difficulties, mostly due to its engineering and financial complexity. Material changes have been made in the tender in order to make it realizable, including a set-up grant payable on meeting annual milestones once work begins, providing a safety net guaranteeing passenger traffic, compensating participants in the tender in the event that it is cancelled, and participation in the cost of preparing the tender by the second-placed bidder.
The participating consortia said today that without these changes, no bids would have been submitted in the tender.
NTA general manager Yishay Dotan, who has managed the project for the past two years, told “Globes”, “A few years ago, everyone was convinced that the railway would never be built. Today is a red-letter day. This is a very important milestone, but it should be remembered that this is only the beginning, and a lot of work is still ahead of us.”
Dotan said three key subjects were still open: financing, a detailed blueprint, and obtaining building permits, including for the subway tunnel. He said the biggest problem - financing - was headed for a solution, and that the greatest attention was being paid on building the tunnel.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on February 27, 2006