Škoda quits Helsinki and Espoo metro train tender

Škoda Transportation has withdrawn from the tender for a €1.2 billion metro train project in Helsinki and Espoo, saying it lacks sufficient confidence that it would receive fair treatment, Yle reported on Friday.

The company said participation in the M400 procurement would require bidders to be confident that the process was being conducted fairly, transparently and without discrimination.

Škoda Group said it had encountered conduct by the procurement authority that it considered inconsistent with normal procedures. Based on those experiences, as well as the authority’s earlier conduct in a tram procurement project in the Helsinki region, the group decided not to commit further resources to the metro project.

Škoda was excluded from the Helsinki-region tram tender earlier this year over what the procurement authority said were technical shortcomings. The deadline for preliminary bids in the metro procurement ended this week, and Škoda Transportation was one of the suppliers accepted into the negotiated procedure.

The company designs rail vehicles in Oulu and manufactures them at its plant in Otanmäki, Kajaani.