Israel Railways management has asked the four remaining competitors in its electrification tender - CRPM, Semi, Alstom, and Siemens - to submit their final bids by next week. The tender, estimated at NIS 3 billion, is one of Israel's largest infrastructure tenders.
The project is for the electrification of 420 kilometers of existing and planned railway track, and includes construction of transformer stations and command and control systems. The tender is part of the estimated NIS 13.7 billion Israel Railways electrification project aimed at converting Israel Railways' entire interurban railway system from diesel to running on electricity, as most railways around the world do. Electrified trains are designed to greatly shorten travel time, cut the number of malfunctions, and reduce air pollution. They are also considered more reliable and economical.
Chinese company versus Bombardier
The first court hearing in a lawsuit filed by Chinese company CNR against Israel Railways concerning the selection of Canadian company Bombardier in the NIS 1 billion electrical locomotives tender, also part of the Israel Railways electrification project, was held today. Last August, Israel Railways announced that Bombardier would supply it with 62 electrical locomotives, with an option for 32 more. In October, however, CNR petitioned the Tel Aviv District Court against Israel Railways, asserting that the tender had been biased in favor of Bombardier. The petition stated, "One of Israel's major land transportation tenders, if not the largest at the current time, has become a single supplier tender that has undergone a series of major failures." In its petition, CNR alleged that in addition to the tender being set up for Bombardier, Bombardier's financial situation would prevent it from supplying the necessary equipment. "The respondent's doubtful financial soundness is not a hypothetical or abstract and unfounded issue; it brings the respondent's very ability to meet its obligations to its customers into question," CNR wrote in its petition. In its response to the petition, Bombardier stated, "Israel Railways did not invent the tender requirements, which were based on generally accepted standards in the global market. Due to its misfortune, the petitioner is trying to distract the Court's attention from the fact that the product it offered in the tender is inferior and does not meet the required standard, by raising unfounded claims about the tender being biased."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 25, 2015
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2015