Short-list finalised for rail contract

Greater Wellington Regional Council has finalised a short-list for the tendering of its new rail contract.

Greg Campbell, the Regional Council's Chief Executive, says that after careful evaluation of Expressions of Interest the following companies have been short-listed. They are:

- Transdev Australasia Pty Ltd in a joint venture with South Korean-based company Hyundai Rotem. Transdev operates Auckland's train service, Sydney's light rail, ferries in Sydney and Brisbane, and bus services in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Darwin. Hyundai Rotem is the manufacturer of Wellington's electric Matangi trains and has extensive experience maintaining rolling stock around the world.
 
- Keolis Downer in a joint venture with KiwiRail. Keolis Downer operates the Gold Coast light rail network in Queensland, Australia and Keolis operates Melbourne's Yarra tram services. KiwiRail currently operates Wellington's train services and maintains the region's train fleet.
 
- Serco - an international service company that currently operates a range of rail services in the UK, the Middle East and Australia.

Greg Campbell says tender documents will be issued to the short-listed companies early next year. "We plan to select a preferred tenderer around the middle of next year and have a contract signed by the end of 2015. The new rail contract will take effect from 1 July 2016."

The Regional Council is developing and procuring new performance-based, partnering contracts for all public transport services in Wellington. "The new contracts will have a much greater emphasis on providing high quality, affordable services that encourage more people to take the train, bus or harbour ferry."

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