From September he is expected to take over, if everything goes smoothly, the maintenance and operation project of the Thessaloniki metro the consortium of companies ATM and EGISwhich is the temporary contractor of its relevant tender “Attiko Metro SA”.
The consortium submitted the best financial offer in the PPP tender for the operation and maintenance of the metro, compared to the other participating consortium of of AKTOR and Neo Trans companies and by June 20, 2023 he should submit the file with all the required supporting documents.
The supporting documents will then be checked and notified to the joint venture that came in second for any objections and if there are no objections, then it will proceed to the Court of Auditors.
According to the calculations of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, the relevant contract will be ready to be signed next September and thus the consortium (which will establish a joint company) will undertake the operation and maintenance of the Thessaloniki metro for the next 11+1 years.
The first year will be the so-called preparatory year. Conventionally it is 18 months, but it is estimated that it will not take that long, because on the one hand there is the “loaned” experience from the operation copenhagen metro, which is also driverless (automatic), while the ATM is already in collaboration with Hitachi, involved in the main project of the Thessaloniki metro. That is, there is the knowledge about the test functions that are in progress.
When the metro will therefore be ready to operate commercially, then the operator, the company responsible for its operation and maintenance, will also be ready, as the ministry estimates.
The PPP tender is worth 292 million euros and went back in time, but as estimated by the ministry it will not stand in the way of the start of commercial operation of the metro. The concern is that emergencies do not arise that may cause delays. As officials of the ministry typically said in Voria.grthe metro in Piraeus was delayed for months due to a missing cable that had to come from China…
It is understood that the control that will be carried out on all the systems of the Thessaloniki metro after the completion of the construction part will be thorough. And after the train accident in Tempe, no one is going to sign off on any similar project if everything doesn’t work perfectly…
The goal of completing construction by the end of 2023 and starting commercial operations in the first half of 2024 remains unchanged, the sources said.
The open fronts close one by one, and only unforeseen shortages can move the timetable for the start of passenger services by a few days or even months.
From then on, the operator of the operation and maintenance of the metro, which will consist of the joint venture of the Italian ATM and the French EGIS, will remain until 2035, after which either a new tender will be held or another company will be established by the State for this purpose the purpose, either the consortium will continue, or “Attiko Metro SA”, which is renamed “Hellenic Metro SA”, will take over the project, as announced by the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in his last visit to the Thessaloniki metro.
Everything is open for the future and will be considered, depending on the choices made then.
