São Paulo state sets new date for US$580mn rolling stock tender

The transport department in Brazil's São Paulo state set a new date for a tender to acquire 44 trains under a contract estimated to involve 3.6bn reais (US$580mn).

"The bid opening session for the supply of 44 trains, scheduled to take place on December 23, could not be held due to technical issues with the Compras.gov.br website. The process will be opened in a public session to be held on December 27 at 10 a.m.,” a spokesperson for the transport department told BNamericas.

It is not the first time that the process has been delayed. 

The original tender was scheduled for March 21, but the government decided to halt the process for an indefinite period to address a request made by the companies interested in bidding.

The trains to be purchased will be used on metro line No. 2 - green and line No. 3 - red.

The state government is planning to invest 3.6bn reais in acquiring new trains with financing from development bank BNDES.

The tender has been highly contentious behind the scenes. Companies operating in Brazil tried to block the participation of Chinese firms in the process, albeit unsuccessfully, claiming that the latter have no production operations in the country and should therefore be disqualified.

The rolling stock industry in Brazil has traditionally been dominated by European companies with local operations, such as Alstom and CAF, but Chinese players have entered the fray in recent years.

A consortium formed by Brazilian firm Comporte and China’s CRRC won an auction in February for the Trem Intercidades passenger rail system in São Paulo state. The PPP contract to build and operate the 101km line involves investments of around 13.5bn reais, using 15 trains that CRRC will provide.