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Kawasaki wins Taipei rapid transit
deal
TAIPEI - The department of
rapid transit systems under the Taipei city government
signed an agreement on Monday with Japan's Kawasaki
Heavy Industries to build 55 electrical multiple units
(EMUs) for the Taipei mass rapid transit (MRT) systems.
Since early
this year there has been fierce competition among major
foreign bidders, including France's GEC Alsthom
, Germany's Siemens, Japan's
Mitsubishi, Canada's Bombardier and South Korea's Hyundai,
but Kawasaki ultimately won the NT$15.2 billion (US$447
million) contract to build the 55 EMUs, which will
comprise a total of 321 carriages.
According
to department of rapid transit systems (DORTS)
regulations, the EMUs must be delivered in five
shipments between Oct. 1, 2005, and April 1, 2009.
The new carriages will be used on existing MRT
lines as well as several new MRT lines scheduled for
completion between 2008 and 2009, including the Pitan
branch line, the Hsinchuang-Luchou line and the extended
section of the current Nankang-Panchiao line.
Commenting on Monday's contract signing, Lee
Wen-tsai, director of DORTS electrical and engineering
department, who inked the contract with Kawasaki
officials on behalf of DORTS, denied allegations that
Kawasaki won the contract by offering an "unreasonably
low price".
Instead, Lee said, Kawasaki offered
a "reasonable price" for the contract. He added that
Kawasaki was awarded the contract because of other
reasons, including the fact that the carriages to be
used in the proposed high-speed railway system will also
be provided by Kawasaki and the existing EMUs used on
the MRT Tamshui line were built by the company - factors
that made the new EMUs procurement project more
financially economical and technically efficient.
According to DORTS director Frank L S Fan,
Kawasaki-built EMUs have been operating smoothly on the
MRT Tamshui line.
Noting that
Canada's Bombardier had promised to have 163 of the 202 carriages to
be used on the MRT Neihu line assembled by
Taiwanese subcontractors, Fan said Kawasaki was also asked in
the contract to offer an offset plan - responding to
Ministry of Economic Affairs regulations of "industrial
technologically cooperation" - to allow about half of
the 321 rolling stock to be assembled in Taiwan.
Takehiko Saeki, executive vice president of
Kawasaki Heavy Industries, who represented Kawasaki in
the contract signing, promised that shipments of the
Kawasaki-built EMUs will be delivered on time, or in
advance of the delivery schedule.
Saeki said his
Kawasaki team will present an offset plan within one
year to allow Taiwan sub-contractors to assemble half of
the new carriages, while opening 20 percent of the parts
and components purchases to Taiwan suppliers.
(Asia Pulse/CNA)
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