Skip to main content

Keolis Downer opens light rail in Newcastle, Australia

Keolis Downer has started operating a light rail service in the Australian city of Newcastle, which will serve as part of a multimodal transport network. The Australian subsidiary of Keolis was awarded the multimodal contract in 2016. It covers the operations and maintenance of the light rail service as well as buses and ferries for a ten-year period. In 2017, the company started operating the bus and ferry services and a year later introduced a real-time, on-demand transport service, powered by Via, a
February 22, 2019 Read time: 1 min

6546 Keolis Downer has started operating a light rail service in the Australian city of Newcastle, which will serve as part of a multimodal transport network.

The Australian subsidiary of Keolis was awarded the multimodal contract in 2016. It covers the operations and maintenance of the light rail service as well as buses and ferries for a ten-year period. In 2017, the company started operating the bus and ferry services and a year later introduced a real-time, on-demand transport service, powered by Via, a developer of shared ride technology.

Keolis Downer says it has now completed the light rail and is operating the service on behalf of Transport for New South Wales.

The 2.7km long network features six stations and runs between Wickham and Pacific Park while also connecting with existing bus and ferry services.

Related Content

  • August 16, 2016
    Audi launches new traffic light information V2I service
    Audi of America, in conjunction with Traffic Technology Services (TTS), is to launch its first vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) technology, traffic light information, as part of its suite of Audi Connect Prime services. The feature will be introduced later this year in select smart cities and metropolitan areas across the country through 2017 and beyond and is available on 2017 Audi Q7, A4 and A4 Allroad models built after 1 June 2016. Traffic light information, an Audi connect Prime feature, enables the
  • November 24, 2021
    ST wins Taiwan and Rio smart city projects 
    ST is undertaking a $445m metro deal in Kaohsiung City and an IoT project in Brazil 
  • February 5, 2016
    International consortium to deliver Canberra’s light rail network
    The first stage of Canberra’s light rail network will be constructed by the Canberra Metro consortium, comprising of Pacific Partnerships, CPB Contractors, John Holland, Mitsubishi Corporation, Aberdeen Infrastructure Investments, Deutsche Bahn International and CAF. Between them they will deliver on 12km of light rail track, 13 stops, 14 light rail vehicles, a depot and 20 years of operation and maintenance. Canberra Metro will construct and operate stage one of Canberra’s light rail from Gungahlin
  • January 9, 2018
    Authorities switch on to all electric buses as costs tumble
    Alan Dron looks at changes in bus propulsion as cities look to improve air quality and seek to reduce maintenance costs. Despite the ending of various incentives to adopt alternative fuels, the introduction of electric buses by US transit authorities is picking up speed as performance improves, costs drop and air quality considerations become increasingly significant. More US bus manufacturers are introducing zero-emission models and some recent contracts will see many more passengers getting their first