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

  • Rail safety technology launched in Central Minnesota
    January 7, 2013
    New safety technology being installed along some rail lines across the US, including Central Minnesota, aims to prevent deadly train crashes caused by human error. The technology is designed to automatically stop or slow a train to prevent accidents such as a collision with another train or a derailment caused by excessive speed. The changes stem from federal legislation passed in 2008 after a commuter train collided head-on with a freight train in California, killing twenty-five people and injuring 135. An
  • Siemens and Swiss Federal Railways partner on rail traffic control
    September 3, 2013
    Siemens and Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) have signed a contract worth around US$405 million for the automation and centralisation of rail traffic control of the 3,000km, 760 stop Swiss rail network. During the partnership, which will run until 2015, Siemens will continue the development of the Iltis control and information system, which enables a largely automated operational handling of rail traffic. The computer-based system, specially developed by Siemens for SBB, controls and monitors all train oper
  • London's new Silvertown Tunnel set to open
    January 13, 2025
    TfL says average peak journey times expected to be 20 minutes quicker
  • Cubic completes Sydney Opal Card rollout early
    December 12, 2014
    Cubic Transportation Systems has completed the roll out of Sydney’s Opal contactless smartcard ticketing system across all transport modes and connecting multiple operators and commenced operation and maintenance of the Opal system under the ten-year services agreement that is part of the original contract. The contract to build the new electronic ticketing system (ETS) – later branded as the Opal Card – was awarded to the Cubic-led Pearl consortium in 2010.