<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>SMRT joins Connex in $8.6b bid to run Melbourne's trains
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Jessica Cheam
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->PUBLIC transport operator SMRT Corp is looking to spread its wings overseas by bidding for a contract worth A$8 billion (S$8.6 billion) to run Melbourne's train system.
It has joined forces with Connex, owned by French infrastructure giant Veolia, to put in a bid to retain the lucrative contract, reported the Australian newspaper The Age yesterday.
When contacted, SMRT confirmed this with The Straits Times but declined to give details.
Finance firm JP Morgan is reported to have put the contract's worth at A$8 billion or more in revenues over 10 years.
The winner, to be chosen by the middle of this year, will run the rail system for eight years from Dec 1, with an option for another seven years.
Connex is said to have enlisted SMRT's help to devise better systems for customer service, track and train maintenance and planning. Connex has had to contend with an ageing rail infrastructure and has come under fire for late and cancelled services.
Its parent company, Veolia Transport, has also confirmed the bid. Veolia has another partner - Bombardier, a leading global rolling stock builder and renovator.
Veolia executive chairman Jonathan Metcalfe said in a statement that the company was 'confident the Veolia/Bombardier/ SMRT bid presents a compelling case'.
'We have focused on how the customer experience could be improved and how we could successfully partner with the government to deliver projects to transform the Melbourne train network over the next decade,' he said.
The consortium is bidding against another French transport firm, Keolis, and Hong Kong's MTR Corporation for the next contract to run the trains.
Connex earns about A$600 million a year from running Melbourne's trains.
SMRT reportedly put in its own bid to run Melbourne's trains last year but did not make it to the shortlist of three. Its unit, SMRT Engineering (Middle East), recently won a six-year contract, worth 50 million dirhams (S$20.6 million) annually, to operate and maintain the Palm Monorail on Dubai's iconic mega-resort Palm Jumeirah.
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Jessica Cheam
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->PUBLIC transport operator SMRT Corp is looking to spread its wings overseas by bidding for a contract worth A$8 billion (S$8.6 billion) to run Melbourne's train system.
It has joined forces with Connex, owned by French infrastructure giant Veolia, to put in a bid to retain the lucrative contract, reported the Australian newspaper The Age yesterday.
When contacted, SMRT confirmed this with The Straits Times but declined to give details.
Finance firm JP Morgan is reported to have put the contract's worth at A$8 billion or more in revenues over 10 years.
The winner, to be chosen by the middle of this year, will run the rail system for eight years from Dec 1, with an option for another seven years.
Connex is said to have enlisted SMRT's help to devise better systems for customer service, track and train maintenance and planning. Connex has had to contend with an ageing rail infrastructure and has come under fire for late and cancelled services.
Its parent company, Veolia Transport, has also confirmed the bid. Veolia has another partner - Bombardier, a leading global rolling stock builder and renovator.
Veolia executive chairman Jonathan Metcalfe said in a statement that the company was 'confident the Veolia/Bombardier/ SMRT bid presents a compelling case'.
'We have focused on how the customer experience could be improved and how we could successfully partner with the government to deliver projects to transform the Melbourne train network over the next decade,' he said.
The consortium is bidding against another French transport firm, Keolis, and Hong Kong's MTR Corporation for the next contract to run the trains.
Connex earns about A$600 million a year from running Melbourne's trains.
SMRT reportedly put in its own bid to run Melbourne's trains last year but did not make it to the shortlist of three. Its unit, SMRT Engineering (Middle East), recently won a six-year contract, worth 50 million dirhams (S$20.6 million) annually, to operate and maintain the Palm Monorail on Dubai's iconic mega-resort Palm Jumeirah.
