The process of acquiring 42 new Lisbon Metro carriages and a new signaling system has been at a standstill for two months. Although the contract was signed in February with the consortium formed by Switzerland's Stadler and Germany's SiemensThere is a lawsuit blocking the purchase. The first carriage was due to arrive in 2022.
At stake is a challenge by the competing consortium, made up of France's Thales and China's CRRC Tangshan, as Público reports. Thales and CRRC Tangshan decided to challenge the award of the contract for the purchase of the carriages and the new signaling to Stadler and Siemens, so that Metro de Lisboa is now awaiting the judicial decision in this case, which is in the hands of the Administrative and Fiscal Court of Sintra.
This challenge has been going on since February 12, a few days after the contract between Metro de Lisboa and the Stadler/Siemens consortium was signed and announced. As Público reported at the time, the challenge by Thales e and CRRC Tangshan had a "automatic suspensive effect of the award" under the terms of the Code of Procedure in Administrative Courts (CPTA) until there is a court decision. A decision which, two months later, has still not been received by Metro de Lisboa. Público recalls that the process of purchasing the new carriages and signaling system began in September 2018 with the launch of the international public tender.
