Deutsche Bahn successful in UK selection process

DB Regio UK “preferred bidder“ for the operation of Newcastle’s Tyne and Wear Metro / contract to run for seven years

Newcastle/Berlin, For the second time now within a very short period, Deutsche Bahn has won a selection process for the award of a local rail transport concession in another European country. DB Regio UK, Deutsche Bahn’s local transport subsidiary, came out as winner in the concession process and has now been named “preferred bidder“ for the operation of the Tyne and Wear Metro in Newcastle in the UK. The actual concession contract with the Nexus the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive is now expected to be finalised in mid-January.

“We are absolutely delighted that for the second time within a period of just two weeks we have won an international selection process. We were chosen by Nexus in preference to eight other competitors, including major European transport groups. This once again emphasises our position as a leading European local transport company“, said Ulrich Homburg, member of the Board of Management of Deutsche Bahn for passenger transport.

The Tyne and Wear Metro contract will involve the operation of 5.8 million train kilometres each year, beginning in April 2010. The concession will run for seven years and includes an extension option for a further two years. The characteristics of the Metro are similar to that of the S-Bahn RheinNeckar rapid transit system in Germany.

The contract includes the operation of the train services, plus the maintenance and upgrading of all 90 Metrocars provided by Nexus, the client. The area served by the Tyne and Wear Metro in North East England, which includes the cities of Newcastle and Sunderland in addition to the surrounding districts, covers some 400 square kilometres (approximately equivalent to the area covered by Cologne) and has around 900,000 inhabitants. The Tyne and Wear Metro has a network with a length of 74 kilometres and 60 stations, and carries around 40 million passengers a year.

With its UK subsidiary Chiltern Railways, DB Regio has been active in the UK since 2008. In addition to commuter services between London and Birmingham, Deutsche Bahn also operates rapid transit services in the Greater London area and non-stop services between London, Wrexham in Wales and the County of Shropshire. At the end of November, DB won a tender in the Swedish Province of Östergötland, which includes the key cities of Linköping and Norrköping, and beginning in December 2010 will operate rapid transit services covering 3.8 million train kilometres each year.