Bozankaya Cut from Koleje Dolnośląskie Hybrid Train Tender

WROCŁAW, Poland – Turkish rolling stock manufacturer Bozankaya A.Ş. has been excluded from a tender by Polish regional operator Koleje Dolnośląskie for the supply of 4 hybrid trains with an option for 16 additional units. The exclusion, confirmed in mid-2025, leaves PESA Bydgoszcz, Siemens Mobility, and Škoda Group competing for the contract, which covers hydrogen- or battery-electric multiple units (BMU) with a mandatory one-year prototype testing programme on the Polish rail network.

What Does This Contract Cover?

The tender encompasses the design, manufacture, and delivery of 4 base-order hybrid electric multiple units capable of operating on hydrogen fuel cells or battery power, with an option extending the procurement to a total of 20 trains. All prototype units must complete a 12-month testing and validation programme on the Polish railway network prior to commercial service entry, a requirement that raises the technical bar for non-incumbent manufacturers unfamiliar with Polish infrastructure conditions.

Key Contract Data

How Does This Compare to Similar Contracts?

Polish regional operators have been among the most active procurers of alternative-traction rolling stock in Central Europe. In 2021, Koleje Mazowieckie signed a PLN 4.2 billion (approximately €890 million) framework agreement with Stadler for 61 FLIRT hybrid trains, while Koleje Wielkopolskie ordered 6 hydrogen units from PESA in 2023. By comparison, the Lower Silesian tender — covering up to 20 units with dual hydrogen/BMU capability — is smaller in unit count but technically more demanding due to the hybrid traction requirement, which adds complexity relative to single-mode hydrogen procurement. (Source: Railway Gazette International, 2023; Stadler, 2021)

The exclusion of Bozankaya mirrors the trajectory seen with CRRC in Bulgaria (2024) and Lisbon (2024), where EU foreign-subsidy scrutiny preceded bid withdrawals or disqualifications. However, the Polish case differs in one key respect: the operator explicitly cited reciprocity of trade agreements as the basis for exclusion, rather than launching a full subsidy investigation. This signals a procedural shortcut that contracting authorities may increasingly deploy under the EU’s 2023 Foreign Subsidies Regulation framework. The regulation’s formal review thresholds — €250 million for procurement procedures and €500 million in EU turnover — would not necessarily capture a 4-to-20-unit regional train order, suggesting that the reciprocity clause functions as a lower-barrier screening mechanism for mid-sized tenders.

Editor’s Analysis

Bozankaya’s exclusion marks a shift from reactive, investigation-led enforcement against Chinese state-backed manufacturers toward a pre-emptive, rules-based filtering of all non-EU bidders at the tender qualification stage. For Turkish manufacturers — who sit outside the EU but maintain a customs union with the bloc — the reciprocity requirement creates a grey zone: Turkey is a signatory to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement, yet the EU’s newer instruments layer additional conditions beyond GPA membership. Three remaining bidders are all EU-headquartered, suggesting that the effective outcome is a de facto preference for European supply chains even absent formal local-content mandates like the 50% value-add threshold proposed by Austria’s VBI. (Source: VBI, 2025; WTO GPA, 2014)

For Koleje Dolnośląskie, the narrower bidder field may accelerate evaluation timelines but reduces price competition — PESA and Škoda now face only Siemens as a non-domestic competitor, a dynamic that historically correlates with higher per-unit costs in Polish rail procurement.

FAQ

Q: Why was Bozankaya excluded from the Polish tender?
A: Koleje Dolnośląskie cited new EU rules permitting contracting authorities to limit or exclude bidders from third countries that lack reciprocal trade agreements with the European Union. The specific reciprocity deficiency with Turkey was not detailed in the operator’s public justification.

Q: How much is the contract worth?
A: The total contract value has not been publicly disclosed by Koleje Dolnośląskie. Comparable hybrid train procurements in Poland have ranged from approximately €30 million for small hydrogen batches to €890 million for large framework agreements with Stadler.

Q: Which companies remain in the running for this tender?
A: PESA Bydgoszcz (Poland), Siemens Mobility (Germany), and Škoda Group (Czech Republic) are the three remaining bidders following Bozankaya’s exclusion.