The contract, worth between €319-494m ($336-520m), includes the purchase of maintenance and repair services for the trains to ensure an operational time of 15 years, and an option to extend up to 30 years.
The tender has been cancelled three times previously, twice due to a lack of bids and once due to the submission of a non-compliant bid. The last tender was cancelled in May (2024) after no offers were submitted.
ARF has stated the deadline for submitting bids or requests to participate is January 15 2025. The bids are expected to be evaluated based on the best quality-price ratio.
The statement released by ARF said, “This procurement project, conducted under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), represents a crucial step toward adopting green technologies and enhancing sustainable mobility in Romania.”
The news comes after Romania’s Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, and the nation’s government reportedly completely cancelled plans to purchase the trains.
After three unsuccessful attempts to complete the tender, Ciolacu attributed the failure to the fact that viable solutions are not yet commercially available.
