Seven out of the eight consortia are out of the HSR project

Seven out of the eight consortia participating in the international bid to manage the executive engineering project of the bullet train Rio de Janeiro-São Paulo-Campinas were eliminated from competition. The only consortium that has remained is formed by Brazil’s Geodata and Italy’s Italferr.

All others were disqualified because did not meet the requirements of the notice to bid, according to Empresa de Planejamento e Logística (EPL), responsible for the hiring process. They have already expressed their intention to submit an administrative appeal against the decision.

This is an important step towards the deployment of the high-speed rail (HSR) linking the two largest cities of the country. The executive project will give, among other things, a more accurate cost of the project. In 2008, it was estimated by the federal government in $14.66 billion, but contractors said that this amount was underestimated.

The auction of the bullet train, which will define the train operator and the technology providers, will be performed in August. The hiring of infrastructure works should occur only in 2014 – for this, it is essential that the executive project is completed or at least at an advanced stage. The winning group of the current bid will not do the entire project, which will involve several other companies, but will be responsible for managing and integrating the work.

The bid was divided into three stages. At first, the competitors presented their price proposals. The best proposal was from a consortium led by France’s Egis, a minority shareholder of the Viracopos airport in São Paulo, but with experience in building high-speed rails in France. Its proposal was $32.89 million. The Geodata and Italferr consortium ranked third, with a price of $34.36 million.

In the second stage, ended yesterday with only one consortium classified, the technical capability of the companies was evaluated. There was a lack of certificates that prevented the verification of quality of the competitors. So they ended up disqualified.

Today, Geodata and Italferr delivered the technical proposal, which is the third and final stage of the bidding process. A deadline for filing administrative appeals will be opened. If none of the disqualified competitors return to competition, the consortium formed by Brazilians and Italians will be declared the winner. According to Empresa de Planejamento e Logística, there is no deadline for completion of the process.