The Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) is reported to have received technical bids on 17 January from five groups for the design-and-build of the new metro link connecting to the Dubai Expo 2020 site. The bidders are: i) Mapa Gunal (Turkey) / China Railway Group (China) / CSR Corporation (China); ii) Acciona (Spain) / Gulermak (Turkey) / Alstom (France); iii) Obayashi (Japan) / Wade Adams (local) / Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) (Athens-based) / Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Japan); iv) Orascom (Egypt) / Yapi Merkezi (Turkey) / GS Engineering & Construction (South Korea) /Siemens (Germany); and v) Nurol (Turkey) / Astaldi (Italy) / Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (Spain). The scheme, known as Route 2020, involves building a 15-kilometre-long line, branching off the existing Red Line at the Nakheel Harbour and Tower station. About 11 km of the line will be elevated, with five elevated stations and two underground stations. (MEED)