Pec announced a new competition for the cable car to Sněžka

Pec pod Sněžkou (Trutnovsko) - The town of Pec pod Sněžkou has announced a new competition for the construction of a cable car to Sněžka. Applicants are expected to submit their bids in April. Alan Tomášek, the mayor, told ČTK today. Construction is expected to start in September, which is six months later than originally anticipated in the first tender. The town canceled the original tender in January due to the disqualification of all bidders. The estimated value of the construction is 330 million crowns excluding VAT, and Pec has a European grant of 230 million for the project.
    In the new competition, the weight of the offered price criterion has been increased to 80 percent from the previous 70 percent. Ten percent is allocated to the payment terms of invoices and the amount of the contractual penalty for failing to meet the construction deadline.
    It remains a condition of the competition that the cable car construction contractor must partner with a cable car manufacturer to submit a bid. Tomášek has previously noted that the construction will be technically very demanding. The majority of the cable car route is in sloped and difficult terrain, in addition to being in a strictly protected area of the Krkonošsko National Park.
    The cable car construction should start with the relocation of utilities and the construction of a new lower station. The main construction work is expected to take place in 2012, when tourists will have to hike to Sněžka. The current cable car structure, including concrete bases, will be dismantled, primarily with the help of a helicopter. Everything should be completed by the end of September 2013 at the latest.
    Three entities applied for the first competition. The consortium of companies BAK and Leitner and the consortium Chládek and Tintěra and Leitner were disqualified from the tender because both bids included the Italian cable car company Leitner. Only the consortium of Eurovia CS and Doppelmayr remained in the competition. However, due to deficiencies in the bid, this consortium was also eliminated from the competition, and the city hall canceled the entire tender.
    The company BAK refused to accept its disqualification from the first tender and requested a review of the tender from the Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS). Recently, the company withdrew its submission to the antitrust office, considering the uncertain outcome of the proceedings and the announcement of a new competition. "We will definitely submit a bid for the new competition," said the CEO of BAK, Dušan Čížek, to ČTK.
    In the first tender, the consortium led by Eurovia CS offered a price of 315 million crowns excluding VAT. The Chládek and Tintěra consortium offered 299 million crowns, and the BAK consortium offered a price of 279 million. A total of ten interested parties picked up the materials for the tender in the previous competition last year.
    The new cable car will have four-seat cabins instead of the current open two-passenger seats. Boarding the cable car will be more convenient, as the lower station will be moved closer to the parking lot at the Lesovna lodge. The intermediate station on Růžová hora and the upper station on Sněžka will remain in their places. The hourly capacity of the cable car will remain at 250 persons. However, the new cable car will be more resistant to wind. Annually, around 100,000 tourists use the cable car to reach the summit.