Statement: SHORTLIST TO RUN MELBOURNE?S TRAINS ANNOUNCED

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From the Minister for Public Transport (Victoria)

Thursday, 28 August, 2008

SHORTLIST TO RUN MELBOURNE?S TRAINS ANNOUNCED

Three companies have been invited to bid for the tender to operate Melbourne?s train network.

The Victorian Government selected Metro Trains Melbourne (MTM), Veolia Transport and KeolisDownerEDI (KDR) from a field of six to continue with the tender process.

Veolia Transport is the parent company of Connex which currently operates the metropolitan train network and MTM is a consortium of Hong Kong?s MTR Corporation, UGL Rail and John Holland.

Pubic Transport Minister Lynne Kosky said she was pleased the refranchising process had drawn such extensive international interest.

?We want the best public transport operators for the people of Melbourne and this tender process has successfully allowed us to access the best expertise in the world,? Ms Kosky said.
   
?We are at a critical planning point and the next franchisee will have a key role in operating, maintaining and helping the Brumby Government to further develop the train network to meet Melbourne's future transport needs.?

Ms Kosky said the three companies demonstrated they had the skills and expertise to run the train system and address current and future transport challenges in conjunction with Government.

?They also had to demonstrate a commitment to Melbourne in this process, the ability to partner with Government and to provide value for money for all Victorians,? Ms Kosky said.

?Following the evaluation process, we have elected to invite MTM, Veolia and KDR to submit tenders because they are world class operators and their bids showed the ability to deliver a valuable combination of these factors.?

The Department of Transport is managing the refranchising processes for both the tram and train networks.

Earlier this month it was announced that KeolisDownerEDI (KDR) and TransdevTSL have been shortlisted in the tender to operate the tram network.

The tender process is expected to be complete by mid-2009 with successful train and tram operators in place by December 2009.