A joint venture led by UK public transport operator Keolis has been shortlisted to operate the Crossrail franchise, the first new major UK railway in a century.
Keolis, which has joined with its long term partner Go-Ahead for the bid, will draw on its global experience of operating transport systems in high-density urban areas to submit a final bid to Transport for London (TfL) later this year.
The partners have an established track record of successful joint ventures and currently operate three major UK rail franchises, Southern, Southeastern and London Midland, through the Govia joint venture
Keolis majority shareholder is SNCF, operator of the TGV, which has a substantial operational interest in the Parisian equivalent of Crossrail, the Regional Express Network (RER).
Alistair Gordon, CEO, Keolis UK, said: Crossrail represents a fantastic opportunity to bring our international pedigree in operating world class, high density rail networks to bear on the most exciting development in UK rail for a century.
We also believe our experience from running two of Britain’s busiest commuter networks – Southern and Southeastern and our ability to draw on our parent company SNCFs expertise in urban networks will make a compelling proposition.
Alongside our partner Go-Ahead we are confident in our ability to meet TfLs ambitions for delivering a world class service and setting a new international benchmark for urban rail services.
Keolis, through its joint ventures, currently handles 414 million UK rail passenger journeys every year equivalent to one in three train journeys made in Great Britain- and employs more than 11,000 people.
