It gave an opportunity for prospective bidders to seek clarifications

The international competitive bidding process to construct a 111-km-long monorail network in the city took a step forward with a pre-bid conference held at the headquarters of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation on Wednesday.

It was an opportunity for prospective bidders to seek clarifications about the scope of the project and the tendering process, a senior government official said.

At the meeting, some monorail manufacturers underscored the need to establish the depot somewhere midway on the proposed 54-km long corridor between Vandalur and Puzhal. Since the monorail train runs on rubber tyres, it might not be able to endure the wear and tear of the 108-km round trip.

Speaking to The Hindu , sources among the manufacturers said another aspect that requires attention is the inter-linking of the corridors in the event of different consortiums winning the bid to operate segments of the 111-km-long Phase-I monorail network. The technical specifications of most monorail manufacturers do not match. Each monorail consortium would also need to have its own depot and maintenance facilities.

The pre-qualification stage of the bidding process initiated by the State government would come to a close on September 28. Once the proposals of interest from various entities are opened, the companies or consortiums in the fray would be announced.

All applicants who prequalified would submit a technical and a financial bid. An evaluation committee comprising consultants appointed by the MTC and officers nominated by the government of Tamil Nadu would evolve a composite score for each bid, based on which the monorail operator would be identified.

The process of identifying a suitable consultant has already been set in motion. A team of over 20 experts in fields ranging from automatic fare collection, architecture and design, signalling and telecommunication, and energy efficiency are set to be housed at the monorail cell which would come up at MTC. The monorail system is proposed to constitute a network of four elevated corridors – Vandalur to Puzhal via Avadi (54 km); Vandalur to Velachery via Tambaram East (23 km); Poonamallee to Kathipara via Porur (18 km); and Poonamallee to Vadapalani via Valasarawakkam (16 km).