Skip to main content

KeolisAmey reappointed to operate London's automated rail system

New eight-year €140m deal from Transport for London to run Docklands Light Railway
By Adam Hill October 7, 2024 Read time: 2 mins
The DLR has 40km of track and 45 stations and carries around 100 million passengers per year (© Anizza | Dreamstime.com)

Transport for London (TfL) has reappointed KeolisAmey to operate and maintain its automated metro network in the UK capital. 

The driverless Docklands Light Railway (DLR) opened in 1987 to cover a redeveloped docks area in the east of the city, and KeolisAmey - a joint venture between Keolis and Amey - began operating it in December 2014.

The new eight-year contract is worth around €140 million in revenue and will begin on 1 April 2025.

The DLR has 40km of track and 45 stations and carries around 100 million passengers per year.

Marie-Ange Debon, chairwoman of the Keolis Executive Board, says she is "proud of the role we have played over the past decade, setting records for ridership and customer satisfaction".

“The new DLR contract allows us to build on our work, operating one of the capital’s busiest rail networks, bringing new technologies onboard to improve passengers’ experiences and give back to local communities," adds Andy Milner, CEO of Amey.

"With new trains, greater innovation, a core commitment to decarbonising and a focus on safety for both customers and colleagues, it’s a really important time for the DLR," comments Tom Page, TfL’s general manager for DLR.

KeolisAmey says it will support TfL in introducing 54 new trains to the network, adding new timetables with increased service frequency, and deploying AI-based tech to improve passenger safety in stations and manage footfall during major events.

Keolis operates a dozen automated metro networks, including the world’s longest - in Dubai - which has 280km of lines in operation or under construction.

The first automated metro launched in 1983 in Lille, France.

Related Content

  • NJ Transit expands DriveCam contract
    March 23, 2012
    DriveCam has announced that NJ Transit has signed a two-year contract to expand the company’s managed services programme across its entire fleet of vehicles. “By expanding DriveCam’s video-based solution throughout NJ Transit’s entire fleet, we are demonstrating our commitment to enhancing the safety and security of customers and employees alike,” commented Transportation Commissioner and NJ Transit board chairman, James Simpson. In addition to achieving a 54 per cent reduction in collisions since launching
  • Keeping people on track is RATP’s raison d’etre
    June 14, 2018
    In Paris, RATP Group’s autonomous Metro Line 1 is carrying 750,000 people a day across the city. Ben Spencer is invited into the control room to take a look at how the system works Paris is visited by millions of tourists each year, keen to see for themselves stunning attractions such as the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Notre-Dame, the Louvre, the Seine and all the rest. But while the best-known sites of the City of Light tend to be on the surface, there is a lot going on below those iconic grand boule
  • Abu Dhabi unveils new public transport plan
    March 29, 2012
    The new public transport plan for Abu Dhabi in the UAE will consist of bus rapid transit (BRT) and two light-rail tram lines, while the planned 130-km railway network has been shortened to 70-km, according to the department of transport (DoT). The first phase of the metro railway is expected to operate by 2020 and it will cover 18km. The metro trains will travel at 80 to 100 km per hour. There will be two light railway lines that cover 40km that will travel at an average speed of 20 km per hour and the BRT
  • Thales to maintain Dubai metro
    March 18, 2015
    Thales has been awarded a five-year maintenance contract for the world’s longest driverless metro network, in Dubai, UAE. This new contract follows the implementation by Thales of its driverless metro packaged solution on the Red and Green Lines of the Dubai metro. Thales’s service solutions include remote on-site support and corrective maintenance ensuring system knowledge and recovery. The team will deliver efficient, competitive and sustainable services while ensuring the highest levels of passenger safe