RIGA, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- After a tender that lasted for more than three years, Spanish manufacturer Patentes Talgo S.L.U. (Talgo) on Wednesday was awarded the contract to supply new passenger trains to Latvia, local media reported.
Other bidders participating in the tender include companies from Poland, Spain and the Czech Republic.
Rodzers Janis Grigulis, CEO of Latvia's state-owned rail passenger carrier Pasazieru Vilciens, announced the winner of the competition at a news conference that was held in a train at the Riga Central Railway Station on Wednesday.
Talgo won the bid with an offer of supplying 32 electric trains with 450 passenger seats in each train for 225.3 million euros (257.07 million U.S. dollars). The trains' estimated service life would be 35 years. The supplier is expected to gradually deliver the trains from 2020 to 2023.
In November 2018, the Latvian government earmarked 259 million euros (295.53 million dollars) for the purchase of the new passenger trains, their spare parts and maintenance equipment, as well as construction of a new railway depot.
