A Turkish joint venture, EYE (EmreRay + Yüksel + Erk), has won the tender to design and build Tbilisi’s long-planned tram line after submitting the lowest bid, Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze announced.
Kaladze said the tender, conducted under the procurement rules of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), attracted four bidders, including three Turkish companies or consortiums and one Chinese company.
The winning consortium submitted a bid of GEL 287.7 million, the lowest among the four proposals.
The project will be implemented in three stages: preparation of the conceptual design, development of the detailed design, and construction. Kaladze said the work is expected to take 36 months, with the entire project, including administrative procedures, scheduled for completion within the next four years.
The planned 7.5-kilometer tram line will run from Didi Digomi to the Didube metro station via Davit Agmashenebeli Alley and the Digomi district. It will include 11 stops and a depot designed to service 11 tram units.
Kaladze said a separate tender will be announced to procure 10 trams, as the current contract covers only the design and construction of the line and depot.
Under ADB procurement rules, a 14-day appeal period will follow before the contract can be signed with the winning bidder.
The estimated value of the tender was GEL 416.6 million. EYE (EmreRay + Yüksel + Erk) submitted the lowest bid at GEL 287.7 million, followed by YDA İnşaat with GEL 332.4 million, Wuhan Municipal Construction Group with GEL 397.5 million, and Doğuş İnşaat ve Ticaret with GEL 412.6 million.
The return of trams to Tbilisi has been one of Kaladze’s flagship infrastructure pledges since before the previous local elections.
