Transdev contests tender for public transport in the Coimbra region

The Transdev group, which has long operated in Coimbra, went to court to try to challenge the decision of the public road transport tender in the region, a process won by the Israeli Busway.

In response to the Lusa agency, the Transdev group confirmed that it took action to challenge that international public tender, contesting the decision of the jury that awarded the concession of road transport in the Intermunicipal Community (CIM) of the Coimbra Region to the company Busway, a subsidiary of Israeli group Afifi.

“The grounds that justified that action result from the fact that, in Transdev’s understanding, the jury did not require clarifications, which were legally required, from the proponent of the proposals that were awarded,” an official company source told Lusa, in a response writing.

At the end of March, the CIM of the Coimbra Region had stated that Busway had won the tender, with the jury proposing the award of the three lots to that company, for around 40 million euros (plus VAT) for five years of operation. .

At the time, the executive secretary of CIM, Jorge Brito, said that the winning proposal presented values, on average, “20% below the base price”, in a public procedure in which there were “several proposals” with “variable geometries”, without mentioning how many competitors participated.

Transdev considers that the jury should have demanded clarifications, as “there are strong and serious indications that those proposals [vencedoras] presented an abnormally low price.”

Transdev, which has long operated throughout the Coimbra region, also clarified that there is still no result of this legal challenge, awaiting the “presentation of a challenge by the CIM Region of Coimbra and, eventually, by the remaining interested parties and the subsequent procedures cool”.

Questioned by Lusa, Jorge Brito simply stated that “the entire process is taking place as normal”, refusing to provide any additional clarifications regarding the challenge to the public tender.

The CIM launched a new public tender for public road transport in 2023, after the first procedure was abandoned, having carried out a review of the tender’s assumptions and a reduction in the network by around one million kilometers covered.

According to the tender documents consulted by the Lusa agency, in all lots, service to Coimbra (the main destination for intercity travel) is guaranteed, in a region with around 430 thousand inhabitants.

According to the process documents, an annual supply of 6.5 million kilometers traveled must be ensured, more than half to respond to the intercity network, 0.98 million kilometers dedicated to the interregional network and the remainder for services municipal road transport.

The future operation of this road transport network will be integrated into the intermodal ticket that will serve the entire region (a single ticket that allows you to use this network, but also Metro Mondego and urban transport in Coimbra).

The CIM Region of Coimbra includes the municipalities of Arganil, Cantanhede, Coimbra, Condeixa-a-Nova, Figueira da Foz, Góis, Lousã, Mira, Miranda do Corvo, Montemor-o-Velho, Oliveira do Hospital, Pampilhosa da Serra, Penacova , Penela, Soure, Tábua and Vila Nova de Poiares, from the district of Coimbra, and Mealhada and Mortágua, from the districts of Aveiro and Viseu, respectively.

Busway is a subsidiary of the Israeli group Afifi, which won in 2023, through the company Nativ Express, the road transport competition for the Intermunicipal Community of the Aveiro Region, having started operating in the summer of that year.