Raja requires a mixture of 41-seat day coaches, 42-seat restaurant cars and nine-compartment sleeping cars with 36 berths each. The coaches will be equipped with HVAC and must comply with Iran’s UIC 505-1 loading gauge. The coaches will have a maximum operating speed of 200km/h but must be tested at up to 220km/h.

Raja requires prototypes to be constructed first which will need to be tested in Western Europe. The winning bidder will be required to manufacture a proportion of the vehicles in Iran to reduce production costs and meet the government’s policy to maximise local capabilities. Bidders which propose a high level of local production will score more highly during the assessment of their bids.

Bidders will be required to prequalify to tender. The closing date to download the tender documents is October 17. Request for proposals documents must be submitted to Raja by November 30 and Raja plans to announce a short list of pre-qualified bidders by December 28.

The coaches will be supplied to Raja over a three-year period and the supplier will be expected to maintain them for at least 10 years.