43 companies have submitted bids in a tender for management of Israel Railways projects, sources inform "Globes." Israel Railways is planning to invest NIS 30 billion in development projects over the next five years. In view of the number of projects, Israel Railways wants to increase the number of management companies from seven at present to 20, based on the tender.
Among other things, the projects include construction of railway facilities, sites, stations, upgrading of stations, adding tracks on existing routes, laying new tracks, etc. The tender will be divided into management of projects of up to NIS 20 million, projects of NIS 20-100 million, and projects of over NIS 100 million.
Israel Railways was surprised by the extent of the response, and attributed it to its new system of remuneration. Up until now, the management company was paid according to a rate set by the Accountant General department in the Ministry of Finance or a given percentage of the project estimate. Israel Railways claims that under the new method, certainty and control over the volume of payments to the management companies will be better.
At the same time, Israel Railways today reported that it had been allocated frequencies for operating its new signals control system, following staff work at Israel Railways and the Ministries of Communications, Transport, and Defense, as well as the IDF. The new system is designed to help bolster safety in railway transport and increase capacity on tracks. As reported exclusively in "Globes" a week ago, Israel Railways is expected to publish a tender estimated at NIS 3.5 billion this coming October.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 21, 2015
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