Transportation: Large competition 602m euros for 220 new urban vehicles in Thessaloniki

A young great in value for strengthening the transport work in is already on the “air”. In particular, an open international competition designed for the award of a transport project in the wider area of Thessaloniki was officially announced by the Thessaloniki Transport Project Organisation. This is essentially the area currently served by a partnership led by Thessaloniki Buses. The contract will be up to 10+1 years (132 months) of which up to one (1) year the period of transition from the date of its signature to the date of commencement of the services and ten (10) years the period of transport services. The purpose of the contract is to provide services (tactical and flexible) for passenger transport in the peri-urban and partly in the urban network of the wider area of Thessaloniki located in the area of responsibility of OSETH. The value of the contract moves to the 602m-euro area for a period of 10 years, while the deadline until 23 October is for those interested in participating in the tender procedure. The estimated number of vehicles shall be at least 220, together with spare vehicles which may include different types of vehicles in terms of their size and capacity. Of the 220 vehicles, at least 62 vehicles should be electric in order to meet the requirements of European and national legislation (N. Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) amending Regulation (EEC) No 4710/2020 on the reduction of pollutants. These 62 vehicles will concern an additional investment by the contractor of around EUR 9.3 million. The notice was issued in mid-August in the European Union newspaper. The contract will have the possibility of a time extension of up to five years, provided that specific conditions set out in Phase B of the Contest are met. The project concerns the satisfaction of about 20,000,000 vehicle-kilometres per year, with an increase of up to 25%. The first year is considered a year of adaptation and changes are likely to be made to the regular design of OSETH (lines, frequencies, hours, etc.) to improve the service of the passenger audience. In addition, according to OSeth, the international open competition concerns a unit cost of 2.2 euros for thermal buses and 2.4 euros for clean buses, while the fee includes – “innovatives for Greece”, during the organization – economic incentive of the contractor for the additional first year passenger traffic it will attract. The obligations of the contractor are the creation – operation of the necessary facilities (cars, charging spaces, etc.). The current annual planned transport project is of the order of 41.2 million vehicle-kilometres of which 22 million vehicle-kilometres are related to OASTH and the remaining 19.2 million vehicle-kilometres of Thessaloniki bus S.A.