Second phase of Petrzalka tram line project won't be completed on time

The second stage of the project concerning the tram line to Petrzalka borough in Bratislava, aimed at extending the line from Jungmannova Street to Janikov Dvor, won't be completed as originally planned, i.e. by the end of 2023, Bratislava mayor Matus Vallo confirmed at a Bratislava City Council meeting on Thursday. "We hoped that trams would start running by the end of 2023, but it will probably be the first half of 2024," stated Vallo. He didn't want to be more specific regarding the exact term, only saying that the updated schedule for construction work will provide answers to this. "We're currently negotiating it with the contractor. It should be announced in a couple of weeks," noted Vallo.
Bratislava City Council at its meeting on Thursday also took note of information on the state of preparations for this transport project. It pointed out that the city might claim a contractual penalty against the contractor for its failure to meet the construction deadlines. The contractor should have reached the second milestone of construction in mid-November, but it failed to do so. Some work is 25-44-percent ready, but other work is still at 0 percent.
The information further states that the process of providing external funding for the construction work has been delayed as well. A major part of the construction work costs should be covered by EU funds.
The construction of the second stage of the project, worth over €70 million (ex-VAT), was launched in late November 2021. The city still claims that it will manage to draw the aforementioned EU funds for the project. However, Transport Minister Andrej Dolezal (Sme Rodina nominee) questioned this claim in October.
The construction work is being implemented by a group of contractors from NS MHD Petrzalka Association, made up of Aldesa Construcciones Polska and Aldesa Construcciones S.A. (TASR)