UK: The four bidders shortlisted for a contract to operate the Tyne & Wear Metro were named by owner and current operator Nexus on January 30.
A total of nine expressions of interest were received. Invitations to negotiate will be sent to DB Regio Tyne & Wear Ltd, Hong Kong's MTR Corp, Serco-NedRailways Metro Ltd, and in-house bidder Nexus. The preferred bidder is due to be announced in November, with final contracts signed in January 2010 and the concession to start in April 2010.
The concession will run for seven to nine years, and includes day-to-day operations and management of services and stations, rolling stock maintenance and the modernisation of 90 trainsets. Nexus will continue to own the trains, set fares and specify the service levels.
