The second part of the metro line D will again be built by Subterra, the transport company has chosen them once more

Prague - The Prague Public Transit Company (DPP) has once again evaluated the tender for the construction of the second section of Metro Line D and for the third time selected a consortium led by Subterra with a price of approximately 30 billion crowns excluding VAT. This was reported today by the Seznam Zprávy server, referencing a previously unreleased document. The company's spokesperson, Daniel Šabík, informed ČTK that they would not comment on the progress of the contract until the procurement process is concluded. DPP selected the same contractor in 2023, but subsequently canceled the selection following a non-final decision by the Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS). They repeated the process last year, but this time it was also canceled by ÚOHS, now definitively.

The contract concerns the section from Olbrachtova to Nové Dvory, which will connect with the part being constructed between Pankrác and Olbrachtova, starting in 2022. However, the tender for the second section is facing problems due to proceedings at the antimonopoly office initiated by unsuccessful bidders for the contract. The selection of the contractor and consequently the construction of the new line have been significantly delayed. The metro line from Pankrác to Písnice was originally scheduled to start running in 2029; now, the discussion is about 2031.

The antimonopoly office was also dealing with the selection of Subterra, which was challenged by the company Strabag, which did not succeed in the tender with a price of 30.7 billion crowns, and the consortium of companies Porr, Vinci, and Marti (PVM), which offered the lowest bid by more than two billion, but was excluded from the tender. The references of some employees in Subterra's offer proved problematic, which led to ÚOHS non-definitively canceling the selection of the tender winner.

DPP then did not wait for the definitive decision and canceled the selection by decision of the board, only to subsequently choose Subterra's offer again in the still ongoing tender. This was followed by more submissions to ÚOHS, the process was repeated, and this year the office again canceled the selection, which was confirmed by its chairman, Petr Mlsna, after the appeal. The company thus had to decide again between Subterra's and Strabag's offers, which Seznam Zprávy reported was done this Monday.

The PVM consortium also contested its exclusion from the tender with ÚOHS. In this case, however, its objections were unsuccessful, and the antimonopoly office recently confirmed after a long procedure that DPP's actions were indeed correct.

The construction of the new metro line began in 2022. Builders are constructing a kilometer section between the stations Pankrác and Olbrachtova, and the second section from Olbrachtova to Nové Dvory is to follow. Additionally, builders will construct a part from Nové Dvory to the Písnice Depot. The construction of another section between Pankrác and Náměstí Míru is planned, with future extensions of the line to Náměstí Republiky.