Stadler Loses Legal Fight for Tallinn Tram Contract
The Supreme Court has thrown out a dispute over the contract for Tallinn's new trams, leaving intact the current contract between the city and a company based in Spain, Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF).
The dispute began in October 2012, when Switzerland's Stadler Bussnang AG challenged the outcome of the public procurement on two grounds: that its own bid had been declared not valid; and that CAF was awarded the tender.
After a messy chain of legal events, the Supreme Court's administrative body finally put an end to the dispute today, saying first, that Stadler's bid had not met requirements; and second, that Stadler was not therefore qualified to dispute decisions made in later stages of the process.
Stadler previously received judgements against it in Tallinn Administrative Court and Tallinn Disctrict Court.
Sixteen new trams that are due to begin operating in the city at the end of 2015.The 78-seat, low-floor vehicles are being purchased for 43.6 million euros, taken from the money Estonia has made with carbon emission allowance sales. The Estonian capital currently has 80 Soviet-era trams that service four routes, in addition to buses and trolley cars.