The Ukrainian Railways joint-stock company (Ukrzaliznytsia) invited tenders for supply of suburban and regional passenger electric trains in an announcement published on the ProZorro public procurement platform on 1 October.
According to the tender announcement, the company plans to procure 30 AC and 30 DC suburban electric trains, as well as 20 AC regional electric trains, the CFTS portal reports.
The expected total cost of the rolling stock is UAH 31,464,244,980 (including VAT).
Applications from potential suppliers will be accepted until 1 November, and bidding is expected to take place on 7 December 2021.
The delivery of the rolling stock must be completed by 30 December 2026.
According to the tender documentation, the electric trains are intended for Ukrzaliznytsia’s Ukrainian High-Speed Rail Company (TPS Darnytsia), the Kharkiv Train Depot, the Fastiv-1 Train Depot, and the Dnipro Train Depot.
As reported earlier, the Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure, Ukrzaliznytsia, Stadler CIS AG (Switzerland), Stadler Rail AG (Switzerland), and Swiss Export Risk Insurance (SERV) signed a memorandum of understanding that defines the basis for cooperation and outlines the mechanism for joint operations on development of the Ukrainian rail transport sector on 26 August.
According to Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov, 30 suburban electric trains produced by Stadler are expected to be purchased for Kyiv and 30 for distribution between Kharkiv and Dnipro within the framework of the City Express rail project. In addition, the memorandum provides for purchase of 20 new regional electric trains and 10 long-distance electric trains from Stadler for renewal of Ukrzaliznytsia's rolling stock.
On the same day, Oleksandr Krasnoshtan, who oversees the Kyiv City Express project at Ukrzaliznytsia, told the CFTS portal during a test ride on a Stadler electric train, “These trains are equipped with Scharfenberg automatic couplers, which allow multiple-unit operations. This is when two or more units are combined into one train, but this system allows them to be controlled from a single control cabin. In addition, the Scharfenberg coupler allows trains to couple and uncouple without human intervention. What is the advantage of this? We couple within 1-2 minutes and go..." This means that the tender requirements are aligned with the technical capabilities of the Swiss company’s rolling stock.
However, Ukrzaliznytsia’s head Oleksandr Kamyshin said on 26 September that the fact that a Stadler train was being tested in Ukraine did not mean that the Swiss manufacturer’s trains would be purchased for the City Express project. According to him, everything will be decided at a tender.
