South Tyrol, 1.6 billion tender to revitalise rail services

This is the largest tender procedure in South Tyrol to date. Yesterday at 12 noon, the Autonomous Province of Bolzano published the invitation to tender for the regional rail service on the provincial portal: period 2025-2039. Candidates from all over Europe now have 110 days to submit their bids. A note from the province explains: rail services on the Brenner, Pustertal and Vinschgau lines, with around 7 million kilometres travelled by train in one year, have been put out to tender in a single lot. The value of the tender is approximately EUR 1.6 billion, spread over 15 years, i.e. until 2039, making it the largest tender, in economic terms, ever published by the Autonomous Province of Bolzano. The company that will take over the service will not only have to guarantee the punctuality of the trains, but also coordinate personnel and maintain the rolling stock. In addition, 44 trains for regional journeys will be provided to the new operator by the province. As of the end of the year 2023, it is planned at the regulatory level throughout the EU that railway services will also have to be put out to tender and not awarded directly.

For the vice-president and provincial councillor for mobility, Daniel Alfreider, this is a new step towards improving passenger services and making them more reliable, as well as strengthening the train as the backbone of citizen-friendly mobility. "Public rail transport will thus become for many a real alternative to the car in South Tyrol," says Alfreider. There are currently two railway operators in South Tyrol: Trenitalia (the parent company of the passenger hub of the SBB group) and Società autobus Alto Adige (Sad). The latter operates the Renon and Val Venosta lines.

The councillor continues: 'We continue to focus on the requirements of EU and national regulations, competition and legal certainty. With the awarding of contracts in a single lot, the province hopes to achieve greater efficiency and better networking, even with even busier timetables, by virtue of the implementation of the provincial mobility plan and after the opening of the electrified Val Venosta railway, the Val di Riga link road, the Virgolo tunnel and above all the Brenner base tunnel (2032/33). The electrification of the Vinschgau railway is a key element in increasing rail transport. Once completed, in 2025, it will no longer be necessary to change trains in Merano for those who want to continue on to Bolzano. Work on the Virgolo tunnel will also soon begin in Bolzano. A separate track will lead from Merano directly to the railway station. Interest groups, industry representatives and trade unions were also consulted in the tender process. Employees should be covered by the collective agreement for rail transport.