ANKARA - Four firms submitted bids on Wednesday to compete in a Turkish tender to procure cars for the Marmaray project.
Within the framework of the project, 76 kilometers of commuter rail will be constructed from Halkali (European side of Istanbul) to Gebze (Asian side of Istanbul).
South Korean Hyundai ROTEM, French ALSTOM, Italian Ansaldobreda SPA, Spanish CAF, Bombardier (Canadian)- Siemens (German)-Nurol (Turkish) consortium had given pre-qualification bids for 440 cars that are expected to cost some 750 million Euros, whereas China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation of China was eliminated in this round.
Hyundai ROTEM, ALSTOM, CAF, and Bombardier-Siemens-Nurol consortium submitted bids for the tender on Wednesday.
"Financial offers will be opened after technical assessments that will last for about two months," Hamza Sen, the head of the tender commission, said.
After the financial offers are opened, the winner of the tender will be made public.

-MARMARAY PROJECT-
The project provides an upgrading of the commuter rail system in Istanbul, connecting Halkali on the European side with Gebze on the Asian side with an uninterrupted, modern, high-capacity commuter rail system.
Railway tracks in both sides of Istanbul Strait will be connected to each other through a railway tunnel connection under the Istanbul Strait. The line goes underground at Yedikule, continues through the Yenikapi and Sirkeci new underground stations, passes under the Istanbul Strait, connects to the Uskudar new underground station and emerges at Sogutlucesme.
This project is one of the major transportation infrastructure projects in the world at present. The entire upgraded and new railway system will be approximately 76 km long. The main structures and systems; include the immersed tube tunnel, bored tunnels, cut-and-cover tunnels, at - grade structures, three new underground stations, 37 surface stations (renovation and upgrading), operations control centre, yards, workshops, maintenance facilities, upgrading of existing tracks including a new third track on ground, completely new electrical and mechanical systems and procurement of modern railway vehicles.
(BRC-MS)