(Newcastle/Berlin, December 4, 2009) Deutsche Bahn announced today that it has won a second tender for local rail transport in another European country within a very short time. Deutsche Bahn’s local transport subsidiary, DB Regio UK, won a local tender to become “Preferred Bidder“ for the operation of the Tyne and Wear Metro in Newcastle, UK. DB Regio UK won the tender against eight other competitors, including major European transport enterprises.
Plans call for negotiation of the specific terms of the transport contract to be completed by mid-January with the contracting organization, Nexus Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive.
The Tyne and Wear Metro contract covers operation of 5.8 million train kilometers as of April 2010. The contract runs for seven years with an option to be extended for another two years.
In addition to operation of rail transport, the contract also covers maintenance and modernization of all 90 Metro vehicles provided by the Nexus contracting organization. The transport region is in the Northeast of England and includes the cities of Newcastle and Sunderland as well as the surrounding areas for a total of about 400 square kilometers (approximately equal to area covered by Cologne) where approximately 900,000 people live. Tyne and Wear Metro has network of 74 kilometers and 60 stations and carries about 40 million passengers per year.DB Regio has also been active in Great Britain since 2008 with its British subsidiary, Chiltern Railways. In addition to commuter trains between London and Birmingham, Deutsche Bahn also operates commuter-like routes in the peripheral areas of London as well as direct connections between London, and the Wales center of Wrexham and the county of Shropshire.