Antimonopoly office cancels rail modernization tender

The Office for the Protection of Competition has canceled a tender for the modernization of part of railway infrastructure in Prague for 3.5 billion crowns on the grounds that the SŽDC, the body which oversees railway infrastructure, breached the law on public tenders. The decision, which is binding, was published on the antimonopoly office's website.

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The tender was challenged by Eurovia, the head of a consortium including Strabag Rail and GJW Praha. The firm finished second in the tender, behind Metrostav together with Swietelsky Rail and SMP CZ.

The Office for the Protection of Competition made clear in its announcement that SŽDC had taken steps which were not transparent in assessment of the consortium headed by Metrostav. On its webpage, the bureau wrote that the steps taken by the commissioning party could have unfairly influenced the tender's outcome.

The current tender on the modernization of the Prague hub was launched last autumn. An earlier tender had been held in which the firm Chládek and Tintěra was chosen as the winner with a proposal with a price tag of 3.4 billion crowns. The tender was later cancelled for technical reasons. Chládek and Tintěra later withdrew from new proceedings.

The modernization project pertains to a section of rail between the district of Hostivař and Prague's Main Station.