POLAND: Warszawa City Hall can finally sign the contract with the winning bidder and start construction of its second metro line following the conculsion of legal proceedings.

Following an international tendering process, a consortium comprising Italian contractor Astaldi, Gulermak of Turkey and Przedsiebiorstwo Budowy Dróg i Mostów was announced as the preferred bidder for the first phase of the line on April 29, after submitting the cheapest bid of 4·1bn zloty. However, this price exceeded the official budget of 3·7bn zloty.

Overseas Engineering Group, a rival Chinese consortium, appealed against the award but this has now been rejected by the courts. Construction is likely to begin in 2010 and could be completed by 2014.

A total of 28 stations are envisaged on the Y-shaped Line 2 which will cross the city from Poczynska in the west to Goclaw and Bródno in the east. The first phase comprises the 6 km seven-station central section from Rondo Daszynskiego to Dworzec Wilenski, which passes under the Wisla river between Powisle and Stadion.