Construction of the Tel Aviv light rail's Red Line will not be affected by the budget cuts decided on by the government, said NTA Metropolitan Mass Transit System Ltd. chairman Michael Ratzon at a meeting of participants in the tender for the digging of the subway tunnels. He said that Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz and Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz promised him that the project would not be delayed.
Ratzon slammed government officials who want to give the light rail project back to a franchisee. "The same parties who failed with the BOT project, wasting hundreds of millions of shekels of public money, without ever submitting a report, are fantasizing again."
NTA CEO Itzhak Zuchman said, "Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz is giving us full backing for building the Red Line and the other lines planned for metropolitan Tel Aviv. We are doing everything to expedite construction at the highest quality."
The Red Line will cost NIS 11-12 billion, which the Ministry of Finance has already budgeted. Financing for the light rail's other lines, which will cost NIS 50-60 billion, is now under discussion.
The government transferred responsibility for building the Red Line to NTA in December 2010 over the Ministry of Finance's objections. Ratzon called reports about government dissatisfaction about the project's progress and returning to a private sector franchisee "irresponsible".
Participants from companies from ten countries - Austria, China, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Russia, Spain, South Korea, and the US - attended today's meeting. The tender is for selecting the contractor to dig subway tunnels, using the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM), on the Red Line's eastern in Petah Tikva. The winner will dig the tunnels in soft soils at a depth of 15-20 meters, below the streets, utilities conduits, and the water table. The winner is due to be picked during the third quarter and work will begin in 2013.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 31, 2012
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