Bernard Tabary, international CEO of Keolis Group, talks to Keith Barrow.

KEOLIS commenced operation of the 15-year Teutoburger-Wald-Network (TWN) concession in North Rhine Westphalia, Germany, on December 10.

KEOLIS Nederland commenced operation of its second rail concession in the Netherlands on December 11 when it took over an 81km network in the province of Overijssel.

QATAR Rail has awarded a €3bn contract to RKH Qitarat to operate and maintain both the Doha metro and the Lusail light rail network north of the Qatari capital for 20 years.

KEOLIS, a subsidiary of French National Railways (SNCF), has signed a five-year deal with Canada’s Institute for Data Valorisation (Ivado) to share and analyse Big Data to help develop innovative mobility solutions.

TESTING has started in the Dutch province of Utrecht with the helloGo app, which will enable passengers to plan, book and purchase tickets using a single app for all modes of transport including rail, bus, taxi, bicycle and car rental.

DUTCH train and bus operator Syntus adopted the branding of its parent company on October 9, when it began operating under its new title Keolis Nederland.

THE government of the Australian state of Victoria has awarded new seven-year contracts for the operation of Melbourne’s suburban rail and tram services to incumbent franchise holders Metro Trains Melbourne (MTM) and Yarra Trams.

DUTCH infrastructure manager Prorail has released details of the 2018 timetable, which starts on December 10 2017, where the country’s 40-plus train operators plan to operate an all-time high of over 160 million train-km. This compares with 125 million train-km in 2003.

THE first Flirt 3 EMU for RB61 Wiehengebirgsbahn cross-border services from Bielefeld and Bad Bentheim in Germany to Hengelo in the Netherlands was presented to Keolis Germany managing director Mr Thomas Görtzen by Mr Ulf Braker, Stadler executive vice-president for Germany, at Stadler Pankow’s Berlin Wilhelmsruh plant on August 16.