SPAIN: The Andalucía regional government has selected the Avanza Metro de Granada joint venture as preferred bidder for the contract to operate the city’s 15⋅9 km light rail route. As well as Spanish public transport operator Avanza, the joint venture comprises Tuzsa, operator of the bus and light rail networks in Zaragoza, and bus company Corporación Española de Transporte.
According to the regional government, the winning bid has quoted a price of €17⋅53m to operate the route for a period of 45 months. There is an option to extend the contract by up to 27 months, at a cost of €5⋅02m/year.
The preferred bidder would be responsible for recruiting and training operating personnel, which are expected to total 112 in number including drivers as well as revenue protection and control centre staff. Maintenance, security and cleaning services are the subject of separate contracts; a total of 200 jobs are expected to be created during the operating phase.
CAF has supplied 15 LRVs to Granada, currently undergoing dynamic trials between Albolote and La Caleta. The remainder of the route to Armilla was expected to be available for testing shortly.
