February 7 (SeeNews) - Romania’s Railway Reform Authority (RRA) said on Tuesday that it has cancelled a tender for the acquisition of twelve electric railcars powered by hydrogen fuel cells, worth between 2.49 billion lei ($543.6 million/507.3 million euro) and 4.25 billion lei.
The tender was cancelled automatically in the public acquisition system SICAP after it had failed to attract any offers, the RRA said in a social media post.
In addition to the acquisition of the twelve hydrogen-powered trains, the contract includes maintenance and repair services for fifteen years, as well as hydrogen fueling services. It also stipulates a potential 15-year extension through an addendum.
The value of the purchase depends on the duration of the services related to the contract, of 15 and 30 years, respectively.
Financing for the acquisition was to be provided through Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). The RRA said it will analyse solutions for resuming the procedure as soon as possible, so as to reach NRRP milestones and secure funds allocated to the country’s railway system.
The tender was launched in October 2022 with interested parties being able to submit bids until February 7, 2023.
The trains are to be used on routes under public service contracts, on the Bucharest-Pitesti, Bucharest-Henri Conda Airport, Bucharest-Targoviste and Pitesti-Curtea de Arges non-electrified railways.
The RRA is a unit under the transport and infrastructure ministry and is tasked with implementing public policies revolving around railway passenger transport.
(1 euro=4.9022 lei)