The Nigerian Railway Corporation has received a total of 24 bids on open requests for the Lagos/Ibadan and Warri/Itakpe e-ticketing solutions for standards gauge railway operations under the Public/Private/Partnership (PPP) arraignment.
Mr Fidet Okhiria, the Managing Director of the Corporation, disclosed in Lagos on Monday at the opening of the request.
Okhiria, represented by Director Operations of NRC, Mr Niyi Alli, said that bidders that did not meet the criteria for the open request would be disqualified.
He said that operations would be on the build, operate and transfer basis.
The managing director said that 11 companies bidding for Lagos-Ibadan e-ticketing operation while 13 companies bidding for Warri-Itakpe e-ticketing standards gauge operation.
According to Okhiria, the introduction of e-ticketing had improved passenger turnout at the Abuja-Kaduna standards gauge operation.
He said that after the evaluation stage of the procurement process, only four bidders would be chosen.
Emmanuel Onwodi, the Director, Transport Infrastructure, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, said at the event that there would be two stages in the bidding – request for qualifications which is the opening of the bids and request for proposals where bidders would submit financial and technical bids before going into negotiations.
“This opening request involves checking the eligibility criteria for evaluation based on set criteria. We discovered that some other bidders brought their documents after the closing of the advert, which is not allowed in procurement.
“A total of 11 companies bidding for Lagos/Ibadan e-ticketing operation while 13 companies bidding for Warri/Itakpe standards gauge operation.
“We have a good number to look at, that is the kind of competition we are expecting so that government can have value for money because the e-ticketing will be handled by any party that has both financial and technical capability to deliver,” Onwodi said.
Meanwhile, he said that the eligibility check was being done openly to demonstrate transparency.
Mr Ben Iloanusi, the Director of Procurement of NRC, said the relevant organisations were present to witness the process of evaluation, alongside the bidders.
The federal government has said, e-ticketing for passengers on board Warri-Itakpe and Lagos-Ibadan Standard Gauge railway line will be introduced in the Lagos to Ibadan and Warri to Itakpe Standard Gauge railway route next year.
The director, Transportation Infrastructure Department, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Emmanuel Owon, made this known recently in Lagos, during the open bidding process for preferred bidders expected to produce software and hardware for e-ticketing of passengers wishing to enter Warri-Itakpe and Lagos-Ibadan passenger trains.
He disclosed that out of 24 companies that bidded for Warri-Itakpe and Lagos-Ibadan proposed e-ticketing solution only 4 will be selected to produce the software and hardware for the two routes.
He described the project as financially viable, noting that, the success recorded on the Abuja to Kaduna railway corridor after the introduction of ticketing has encouraged the introduction in the Lagos to Ibadan and Warri to Itakpe railway corridor.
