Metrorex has announced a new postponement for the tender for the purchase of the trains needed for Magistrale 6, which will link North Station to Henri Coandă Otopeni Airport, with the new estimated deadline being the fourth quarter of 2025. This postponement, the third after previous deadlines (end of 2024 and second half of 2025), creates the risk that the metro infrastructure will be completed without the necessary rolling stock, affecting the overall project schedule.
According to Metrorex officials, the tender documentation for Package 3.2 – Rolling Stock is finalized and is in the internal verification stage, to be submitted to the Romanian Railway Authority (AFER) for approval and then to the National Agency for Public Procurement (ANAP). The company justified the previous delays by the need to update the documentation in line with the design and execution requirements of the structure contracts. Market sources, quoted by Economedia, indicate the possibility of a further postponement of the tender until 2026.
The delay has drawn warnings from industry. Gabriel Stanciu, managing director of Alstom, described the prospect of putting the line into operation in 2028 as “science fiction” as the tender for the trains has not yet been launched, stressing that the minimum delivery time for rolling stock is 36 months.
At the same time, the completion deadline for the entire Magistral 6 is also pushed back. Mariana Miclăuș, general director of Metrorex, has confirmed that the project, which includes 12 stations, will be ready in 2028 or early 2029, instead of the end of 2027 as originally planned. The reason cited for the delay is the late signing of the contracts for the works.