Hong Kong, Dutch and French rail companies amongst those chosen to bid for Welsh train franchise

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Economy and Infrastructure Secretary Ken Skates has today revealed the preferred bidders for services on the new Wales and Borders franchise and Metro.

Four bidders have been selected to progress to the next stage in the procurement process to operate rail services in Wales and the Borders from October 2018 as well take forward key aspects of the next stage of Metro.

This will form part of the Welsh Government’s ambition to deliver a new not for profit rail model similar to the way in which Transport for London manage public transport services.

The Operator and Development Partner (ODP) will help deliver on the Welsh Government’s commitment to an improved, faster and more accessible rail service fit for modern Wales.
The four preferred ODP bidders are:

• Abellio Rail Cymru
• Arriva Rail Wales/Rheilffyrdd Arriva Cymru Limited
• KeolisAmey
• MTR Corporation (Cymru) Ltd

[/vc_column_text][vc_cta h2=”Abellio”]Abellio operates public transport services in Europe, with both bus and rail networks.

The company is the international arm of the Dutch national rail operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen.

It won its first UK contract, Merseyrail, in 2003 – since then, the company has grown to become a major operator in the UK, adding Abellio Greater Anglia and ScotRail to its portfolio. Abellio London & Surrey operates bus services in Central, South and West London and across North Surrey[/vc_cta][vc_cta h2=”Arriva Trains wales”]Arriva Trains Wales is the existing franchise holder for the Wales & Borders franchise. It is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn the German railway company Headquartered in Berlin.
It runs passenger services to all railway stations in Wales.
The Welsh Government funds around £170 million per year for the franchise which Arriva Trains Wales won the contract for in 2003, this will end in 2018[/vc_cta][vc_cta h2=”keolis”]Keolis operate Docklands Light Railway and the urban light rail network in Nottingham.
The company has been in the UK since 1996 and employ 13,000 people across it’s franchises
Globally, Keolis operates in 16 different countries.
Keolis is 70% owned by SNCF – France’s state-owned railway operator – and 30% owned by Canadian pension fund, Caisse de depot et de placement du Québec.[/vc_cta][vc_cta h2=”mtr”]Mass Transit Railway Corporation was established in 1975 as a Hong Kong government-owned statutory corporation to build and operate a mass transit railway system to meet Hong Kong’s public transport needs.

In May 2015, MTR Crossrail commenced an eight-year contract to operate the Crossrail 18-kilometre railway line under development in London and the home counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Essex.[/vc_cta][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

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