25 companies show interest in Tirana public transport terminal

TIRANA, Oct. 1 – Representatives of 25 European companies gathered in an informative meeting over the Tirana Public Transport Terminal where the new train station along with 10 bus lines will be situated.
The Municipality of Tirana intends to prepare a tender for the construction of Tirana Public Transport Terminal. The winning bidder will be selected in an open international tender by the City, under a Design Build, Finance Operate Transfer (DBFOT) concession according to the Albanian concession law. Following a successful concession tender process, financing to the private party will be analysed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
In structuring the project as a concession, the municipality will offer an 85,000 m2 land plot situated along the main corridor leading north-westerly out of the city toward Durres to be contracted out on a long-term basis (+20 years) to a future concessionaire to build, operate and maintain the terminal for the benefit of operators and passengers. In exchange, all bus docking fees, retail rental revenues, and parking fees, will be collected by the concessionaire to amortize its initial capital costs, operational costs, and cover debt service.
The Feasibility Study, prepared by a Consortium led by Italferr, an Italian engineering company, has defined the forecasted transport demand requirements, a proposal for an adapted network of bus routes which should work in an optimised manner with the new terminal, the terminal’s functional organization, the utilities, the infrastructural needs, the capital and operating costs and the revenue projections.
The project also includes the construction of a tram depot and a tram-train station that will be the head station of Tirana-Durres railway, replacing the current Central Station in Tirana, and one of the two terminal stations of the future tram line which will connect the terminal to the Tirana’s centre using the no longer in use railway. The tram-train infrastructure (railway tracks and platforms, water works, electric works, signalling, shelters, etc.) are not part of the project.
Following international best practice, the project incorporates significant retail space, taxi and taxi van parking to augment revenues to the concessionaire while providing shops and other services to passengers.
The consortium has performed the financial and economic analysis of the project. The initial investment cost of Phase A (A and B) is estimated at 39.3 million euro and the completion of the construction works is foreseen after two years and four months after the signature of the concession contract.
The tender will be preceded by a prequalification phase which start is foreseen in October 2013. The awarding of the Concession Contract is foreseen in July 2014.