DB: The construction of the train station in Hradec Králové is set to begin in August

Hradec Králové - The construction of the new bus station in Hradec Králové can now begin. The city hall has already started negotiating the contract with the winner of the tender, the company Strabag. If both parties sign the contract in July, construction could begin in August. This was reported today by Deníky Bohemia in the Hradec Králové district supplement.
The city currently has no standard bus station. Buses depart from temporary stands near the train station and from a nearby panel space. The new station, costing nearly 400 million crowns, is one of the main investment priorities of the city hall.
According to the newspapers, there was a significant risk of delays in construction. The consortium of companies OHL ŽS, Skanska, and M-Silnice filed an objection against the results of the tender. The city and the Hradec transport company had excluded the consortium due to errors in the documents. "After a new assessment, however, the contract administrators concluded that the consortium should be reintegrated into the competition. The rankings at the top positions were not disrupted. No one appealed during the new deadline," said Hradec city hall deputy Josef Malíř.
The company Strabag, as the winner of the tender, offered a price of 392 million crowns excluding value-added tax. According to Malíř, this was the lowest bid. In addition to the construction of the bus terminal itself, the contract also includes the subsequent renovation of the adjacent Riegrovo náměstí near the Czech Railways station for public transport needs. To ensure that the city does not lose 62 million crowns from EU funds, the terminal should be completed by the end of 2007.
The procurement process for the construction contractor took place twice. The original tender was won last October by a consortium led by OHL ŽS with a price of 437 million crowns. However, Skanska, which had bid alone for the contract and finished in second place with a price of 459 million crowns, appealed the result to the Office for the Protection of Competition. The antimonopoly office then ordered the tender to be annulled, and the city called for a new tender.