ComfortDelGro (CDG) C52 has been awarded a contract to operate rail services in Paris, marking the company’s first foray into France’s rail operations market.
This comes less than two years after CDG won the contract to operate rail services in Auckland, New Zealand — its first overseas rail operations.
The award was given to ORA, an international consortium comprising CDG and two French companies RATP Dev and Alstom. The former is a global operator of urban and inter-urban transport systems while the latter is a pioneer in sustainable intelligent mobility solutions.
The contract, which is for an initial term of six years with the opportunity for further extension to nine years, is for the South sector of Line 15 — a new automated line under the ambitious 200km Grand Paris Express (GPE) greenfield metro programme in the Greater Paris region.
ORA will operate and maintain metro services across 16 stations, passing through 22 cities over 33km. With an expected daily ridership of 390,000, it will be the first of the GPE projects to commence passenger service by the end of 2025.
Through its subsidiary SBS Transit, CDG is also collaborating with RATP Dev to bid for the upcoming Jurong Region Line and the Cross Island Line in Singapore, says managing director and group CEO Cheng Siak Kian.
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“Leveraging RATP Dev’s international expertise, we will, for instance, jointly create localised solutions where the transfer of technology and competencies will further strengthen our rail reliability and prokote local rail engineering capabilities,” he adds.
The latest win brings the international rail network operated by CDG to 210km, and increase over 16% of its current 177km in Singapore and Auckland. The company is also participating in a rail tender in Stockholm, Sweden in partnership with Go-Ahead Nordic.
Shares in CDG closed 1 cent higher or 0.82% up on July 18 at $1.23.
