Georgia: This was announced by the Mayor of the Georgian capital, Kakha Kaladze, at a meeting of the Tbilisi government.
According to him, the winning bidder was GT Group, representing CRRC. The company outperformed two other participants, Czech Škoda Group and Kazakh Kamkor Lokomotiv, whose involvement had been reported earlier. The procurement is being carried out with the support of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
Over a five-year period starting in 2026, CRRC is to deliver 111 metro cars to Tbilisi, which will be formed into 14 four-car and 11 five-car trains. According to Chinese media, the contract value is €150 mln, or €1.35 mln per car. Initially, the plan was to purchase 97 cars for approximately €200 mln, or €2.06 mln per car. Thus, the average price per car offered by the Chinese supplier may be more than 30% lower than the customer’s original estimates.
The procurement is aimed at renewing Tbilisi’s metro fleet and meeting growing passenger demand. The city’s current fleet consists of trains produced by TMH plant in Mytishchi and the Leningrad Car Building Plant between the 1970s and the 1990s, which underwent modernisation in the 2000s–2010s.
The tender in Tbilisi was conducted for a second time. The first tender, held at the end of 2021 for the supply of 44 cars at a total value of €49 mln, or €1.14 mln per car, was awarded to Russia’s TMH plant in Mytishchi. However, the contract was terminated in 2023 after the manufacturer was placed on the US sanctions list. At the time, Tbilisi officials stated they were reluctant to terminate the agreement due to the risk of significant cost increases.
CRRC first won a metro procurement in the 1,520 mm gauge segment in 2020, when it was awarded a contract to supply 40 cars (8 trains) to Kharkiv (see render). The results of that tender were contested by Ukraine’s Kryukiv Railway Car Building Works, but its appeal was unsuccessful. However, the contract was not subsequently fulfilled.
