French giant wins city rail contract

By BERNARD ORSMAN

French-based transport operator Connex has won a three-horse race to take over Auckland's rail service from July next year.

The Auckland Regional Council yesterday announced it had selected Connex ahead of Stagecoach and Serco as the preferred tenderer to replace TranzRail. The parties hope to sign a final contract by January to run Auckland's rail services for four years with an extension of up to another three years.

The managing director of Connex in Australia, Gerard Golay, said the company planned to work with the ARC to significantly improve services and patronage in Auckland.

Mr Golay said the company had identified areas where improvements and enhancements could be made progressively.

This talk will be encouraging for Auckland's harassed commuters, who do not know the meaning of a fast and regular train service that runs on time.

Connex boasts a 100 per cent reliability on the Melbourne rail network and an on-time performance of 97.5 per cent. The company has a strong safety record, although one of its trains passed a red signal before colliding with another train near London Bridge station in 1999. Three hundred passengers were rescued from both trains but there were no serious injuries.

ARC passenger transport committee chairwoman Catherine Harland said Connex were not "miracle workers" who would provide overnight improvements - "they are taking over a business that has had decades of neglect".

But the appointment would bring an internationally successful operator to Auckland to make a real difference for the thousands of commuters and school children who used rail every day, she said.

In the past month, the ARC has announced 10 further trains will be running on Auckland's rail network by the end of 2005 and the mechanical upgrade of nine existing units; and the Government has given the go-ahead for the first stage of double-tracking the western line.

Under the operator agreement, Connex will run train services. The trains, tracks and railway stations will continue to be owned or leased by public bodies and the Government. The three shortlisted rail operators were judged on a range of factors, including their quality of service, technical competency, cost, ability to manage change and ability to work with the ARC.

Former Auckland Airport managing director John Goulter reviewed the selection process.

TranzRail had no comment on the new operator. It still operates commuter services in Wellington.

What is Connex?

* Europe's largest private passenger transport company.

* Runs train and bus services in 22 countries.

* Carried 1.4 billion passengers last year.

* Employs 55,000 people.