The first consortium includes Italy's SELEX Elsag, Singapore's Huawei International and Slovenia's telco Telekom Slovenije and its subsidiary GVO. The second is made up of Finland's Nokia Siemens Networks and Austria's SPL Powerlines Telecommunication Services, while the third includes Austria's Kapsch Carriercom and Slovenia's telecommunications equipment maker Iskratel and GH Holding.

The ministry said EUR 144.7m is earmarked for the project, with EUR 100m coming from the EU budget. So far, EUR 4.6m has been spent on planning and documentation.

The ministry expects the system to be operational within 30 months after the contract is signed. The best bidder is to be selected in January next year.

GSM-Railway (Global System for Mobile Communications - Railway) is a digital radio communications system based on the public GSM system and adapted for use in railway communications.

As an EU member, Slovenia has pledged to set up a interoperable railway system, which includes the railway communications segment, the ministry explained.