Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has received another round of final offers from the two shortlisted bidding groups for the contract to design and build the new metro link connecting to the Expo 2020 site (Route 2020). The RTA is reported to have added to the scope of works since the mid-May prices were submitted and it is currently assessing both bids to determine whether the scope of works priced for the new offers is the same. A consortium of Japan-based Obayashi, Athens-based Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC; Athens-based) and Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries submitted the lowest offer, at AED9.8bn (USD2.67bn). The price was cAED500mn (or 5%) lower than the offer of AED10.3bn submitted by the team of Spain’s Acciona, Turkey’s Gulermak, and France’s Alstom, which submitted the lowest bid of AED10.07bn when the last round of bids were submitted in mid-May. The Obayashi/CCC/Mitsubishi team had submitted a price of AED10.44bn back then. The scheme, known as Route 2020, involves building a 15km-long line branching off the existing Red Line at the Nakheel Harbour & Tower station. The line will also connect to Al-Maktoum International Airport. About 11km of the line will be elevated, with five elevated stations and two underground stations. (MEED)