Bulgaria’s Minister for Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeikov signed on April 4, 2024, the decision for the selection of a contractor for the delivery of 7 new double-decker trains, which will be purchased with funds under the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
Stadler Polska has been selected to deliver the new double-decker trains with a value of BGN 300.5 million (EUR 152.9 million) and they must be delivered in 26 months.
The tender was launched in February, and the submitted bids were opened at the end of March. The Ministry of Transport says that Stadler Polska’s bid. met all the requirements of the contracting authority. The contract with the selected contractor will be signed within the statutory deadlines.
According to the Ministry of Transport, negotiations are carried out with the Spanish company Patentes Talgo for the supply of 20 push-pull trains worth EUR 625 million. Talgo replaces CRRC for the supply of new rolling stock as recently, the European Commission launched the first in-depth investigation Foreign Subsidies Regulation into the potentially market distortion of foreign subsidies relating the public procurement procedure for which Chinese rolling stock company applied. According to the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, companies are obliged to notify their public procurement tenders in the EU when the estimated value of the contract exceeds EUR 250 million, and when the company was granted at least EUR 4 million in foreign financial contributions from at least one third country in the three years prior to notification. The investigation under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation is to establish whether foreign subsidies allowed CRRC to submit an unduly advantageous offer. CRRC has withdrawn from the tender ahead of the European Commission’s decision, the in-depth investigation being closed.
Talgoe proposed its Talgo 230 Intercity technological platform train for Bulgaria which provides 390 seats and will not only boast unique passenger comfort thanks to its wide bodyshell but will also provide the world’s best accessibility with a single-deck, 100% low-floor access at platform level of 760 mm and good accessibility for lower station platforms as compared with other coaches, increasing the autonomy of persons with reduced mobility and also enhancing the whole user experience by making boarding and debarking operations faster for all passengers.
The Intercity BG lightweight structure will improve the trains power-to-weight ratio reducing not only energy consumption but crucially cutting acceleration and braking times. This will be especially helpful under the operating conditions set in Bulgaria, with a web-shaped network of comparatively low length density (similar to that of Spain) but many intermediate stops, and up to 80% of single-tracked sections which increase crossings and can put to test train timetables.
At the same time, the Ministry of Transport reopened on April 4, 2024 the tender for 35 electric multiple units.
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