Tender announced for first light rail in Denmark

Odense Letbane, a public owned company assigned to oversee the construction of the first light rail in Denmark, has invited bidders to submit proposals for the supply of rolling stock and transportation systems.

The Odense Light rail system is expected to be finished and enter operation in 2020. The third largest city in Denmark will be provided with a 14.5 kilometre line that stretches from Tarup in the north to Hjallese in the south, calling at 26 stations along the route. Departures will occur every ten minutes handling approximately 35,000 passengers each weekday or 1 million passengers a month. The new system has been designed to integrate other modes of transport including bus and train.

Construction has already begun on the project with utility companies moving pipes and cables to make way for the construction of light rail.

The project moved a step closer on the 2 July 2015 when Odense Letbane announced the pre-qualification of the first two large supply packages. The first tender will provide transportation systems including tracks, stations, masts, cables, signalling and a major maintenance centre in Hjallese, whilst the second will provide 12-18 light rail vehicles at a length of 30 metres for the rolling stock contract. An additional two contracts covering civil works and operations and maintenance will later become available for tender. In the meantime, the two contracts available for tender have been published on the EU public procurement database known as TED.

The deadline for prequalification is the end of August 2015 with tenders released in October 2015. Contracts for both will begin in October 2016