The 1st round of the largest international tender for the construction of the Rail Baltica mainline in Latvia is completed. After evaluating compliance with the procurement qualification requirements, including the previous experience in railway construction in accordance with EU standards, five of six associations have been declared to be compliant with the tender requirements.
The following associations of the companies are invited to participate in the 2nd round of the competition:
- The Association of Persons Webuild NGE-TSOJV, a group of Italian and French companies Webuildp.A., NGE Contracting SASU and TSO SAS;
- The Association of Persons OHLA – GULERMAK Rail Baltica Joint Venture, formed by Obrascón Huarte Lain, S.A., Gülermak Ağır Sanayi İnşaat ve TaahhütŞ. and Gülermak Sp. z o.o. (Spain, Turkey, Poland)
- The Association of Persons R.B. Rail BalticaJV, formed by Eiffage Génie Civil SAS, Budimex S.A. and Rizzani de Eccher S.p.A (France, Poland, Italy);
- The Association of Persons formed by Aldesa ConstruccionesA., China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, Limited Liability Company TEK Baltic(Spain, China, Latvia);
- The Association of Persons formed by the Turkish companies IC İÇTAŞ İNŞAAT SANAYİ VE TİCARETŞ. and DOĞUŞ İNŞAAT VE TİCARET A.Ş.
“This result confirms the positive experience we’ve had so far with the competition since attracting experienced and well–matured construction companies are a significant factor in further implementation of the Rail Baltica project. In this case we aim to attract partner already in early phase to ensure the construction and cost-optimization potential and expertise of the chosen partner at the end of design phase of the mainline,” said Kaspars Vingris, Chairman of the Board of Eiropas Dzelzceļa līnijas.
“Engaging international and experienced association of contractors in the construction of high-speed railway infrastructure will also significantly contribute to strengthening of knowledge and competences in the Latvian construction sector. The planned construction works are combining many elements, such as railway baselines, bridges, roads and overpasses, infrastructure maintenance points, regional stations – a complicated field of work to build a complete new railway line within the shortest possible time,” emphasised K. Vingris.
Currently, documentation preparation works for the second round of the procurement, in which applicants will submit financial and technical offers, is underway. Following the completion of the tender it is planned that the construction works outside Riga will start in 2023. Priority construction works will be carried out in the direction from Riga Airport to the Latvian / Lithuanian border and the Salaspils Intermodal Freight Terminal.
The first construction works are planned in Bauska Municipality near Iecava, where the future Rail Baltica infrastructure maintenance facility will be located. During the construction of Rail Baltica, this maintenance facility will be used as a construction logistics base, providing storage for construction materials, equipment, and construction machinery, as well as enable performance of the necessary preparation and processing work. Railway will be used to transport the construction materials by constructing a connection with the existing 1520 mm gauge network. With the construction logistics base in place, the next works are likely to start with the objects of the highest level of engineering and technical complexity – bridges over the Iecava and Mēmele rivers.