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| High Court gives go-ahead for Stockholm congestion charging scheme. |
09/12/04 |
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The start date of the Stockholm congestion charging scheme, originally pencilled in for June next year, is still shrouded in doubt despite a legal ruling which has apparently thrown out a challenge to the legality of the initial contract.
The scheme, which is already facing a very tight timetable if it was not to fall foul of the political process, was threatened with chaos earlier this year by a legal challenge from the Combitech Consortium over the process employed by the City to select the main contractor. That challenge resulted in a decision by a County (Lower) Court - the Lansretten i Sverige - that effectively meant the process to choose a contractor would have to begin again. At the time it was claimed the decision would result in a two to three month delay, substantially reducing an already short trial period before the September 2006 referendum on its future.
An Appeal to the Kammarrtten Swedish High Court has now , according to a statement issued by Q-Free, overturned the lower court's decision on the apparent grounds that the original contract between the Swedish National Roads Administration and the IBM/Q-Free Consortium is fully binding in law and could not be interfered with by the Courts.
Despite the decision, the statement from Q-Free seemed to throw doubt over whether or not the June 2005 start date for the electronic fee collection would be affected. If, as seems possible, the start date is put back to August, it will reduced the length of the trial from its original 18 months to little more than eleven.
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Further information, contact:
1. Joanna Dickinson, Project manager, Congestion Charge Secretariat, City of Stockholm
Email: joanna.dickinson@stadshuset.stockholm.se Tel: +46-8-508 29 967 Mob: +46+70 47 29 967.
2. Dennis Bring, Project Manager EFC-system, Congestion Charge Secretariat, City of Stockholm, Executive Office. Tel: +46 8 508 29 422 Mobile: +46 70 47 29 422
E-mail: dennis.bring@stadshuset.stockholm.se
3. Magnus Carle, Stockholm City Congestion Charging Secretariat, Tel +46 8 508 29 974. E-mail: magnus.carle@stadshuset.stockholm.se
4. Or visit Q-Free on
www.q-free.com |
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