Israel: The country’s Ministry of Finance forwarded a corresponding order to Dania Cebus and Dan. The two companies are part of the JTrain consortium, which is running the Jerusalem tram concession project. After contacting ministry officials, local media Calcalist revealed that the Israeli Ministry of National Security had not approved the deal with the Chinese manufacturer.
JTrain has won a tender to build and operate the Blue Line in Jerusalem and supply trams for it. The first company selected to supply the trams, worth €400 mln, was Pesa, but when it raised the price due to the tense situation in Israel, JTrain cancelled the purchase. The consortium then signed a memorandum of understanding with CRRC. The Chinese company had two advantages. It offered to supply trams at a €15 mln lower price and it had supplied trams to Israel before, so from August 2023, 90 of its trams are in service in Tel Aviv.
The attempt to replace CRRC may be linked to the escalation of the trade war between the US and China. Under these circumstances, CRRC itself is offering a compromise solution: to produce the trams at its plants in Springfield and Chicago. This may be complicated by the fact that, from 2020, the company was banned from participating in public procurement projects for rolling stock in the USA. A final response from the Israeli authorities regarding on the purchase from CRRC is expected within the next three weeks.
If it is decided to reject the CRRC services and Dania Cebus and Dan are unable to find a supplier, a new tender for trams will have to be organised. If this does not happen, the concession project will be amended.
A consortium made up of local company Shikun & Binui and Alstom, which came third in the bidding, is now demanding the latter. According to Calcalist, the consortium has sent a letter to the Treasury’s tender committee asking for a re-run of the tender between three consortia: this one, JTrain, and the one with CAF.
Read also: Trump’s tariffs and their economic impact on the US rolling stock market, 16 April 2025
