Appeal stalls public transport tender process

One of the two bidders excluded from the tendering process for the new public transport service has filed an appeal, stalling the adjudication process.

The appeal was lodged by Spanish consortium Nex Continental Holdings SLU, which did not qualify for the next stage of adjudication. The other consortium that failed to qualify was that made up of Spanish companies Empresa Montforte SA, La Hispano Igualdina SA, Empresa Municipal de Transportes de Madrid SA and local company FMC Motors Ltd.

Transport Malta said the adjudication process had been halted pending the outcome of the appeal, which will be heard by the Public Contracts Appeals Board.

It said the two remaining bidders, Transdev Plus Consortium and Arriva Malta Consortium, had satisfied the requirements of the technical evaluation with the former scoring 177.37 out of 185 in the technical analysis and the latter scoring 122.51.

French consortium Transdev Plus runs public transport services in European countries and is made up of the Gasan Group and CVA Technology Limited, which operates the CVA system in Valletta.

Arriva Malta Consortium has a mix of Maltese and foreign interests. This consortium also includes 193 members of the Public Transport Association who formed the company Malta Land Transports plc, and the Tumas Group. The completion of the technical evaluation followed the public opening of four bids received on February 19.