http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/second-uk-transport/2285760.html
SINGAPORE: London's largest bus operator Go-Ahead Group has won
the bid to operate bus services in Pasir Ris and Punggol, announced
the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Monday (Nov 23).
The Loyang bus package is the second contract put up for bidding
in the Government's new bus contracting model. Go-Ahead Group is
the second bid winner from the UK, after London-based Tower Transit won
the bid for the first bus package in May.
Go-Ahead will operate the new Loyang bus depot from December.
The company will run 25 services from Changi Airport and Changi
Village bus terminals as well as, as well as the Pasir Ris and
Punggol bus interchanges. The services will terminate at Ang Mo
Kio, Bedok, Sengkang, Tampines and Yishun bus interchanges as well
as New Bridge Road and Upper East Coast bus terminals. These
services will be rolled out in two tranches from the third quarter
of next year.
Go-Ahead will receive about S$497.7 million from LTA over the
five-year contract period. Australia's Busways Group submitted the
highest bid of S$631.4 million, while local operators SBS Transit
and SMRT Buses submitted bids of $545.9 million and $598.1 million
respectively.
Go-Ahead currently runs 24 per cent of London's bus routes with
about 2,300 buses and about 7,000 staff.
In a news release on Monday, LTA said Go-Ahead was awarded the
contract as it had the highest score for both quality and
price.
"Go-Ahead demonstrated a thorough understanding of ground
conditions and strong ability in developing strategies to manage
specific scenarios for each bus route," LTA said. "At the same
time, Go-Ahead also emphasised in its proposal a stringent bus
maintenance regime for bus assets and infrastructure."
The tender for the Loyang bus package was launched on Apr 15,
and closed on Aug 14. Depending on Go-Ahead's performance, LTA said
the contract can be extended by two years.
- CNA/kk