MTR Corporation named as preferred operator for Crossrail, London’s brand new 21st century rail service

The MTR Corporation welcomes the announcement by Transport for London (TfL) today (18 July 2014) that MTR Corporation (Crossrail) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Corporation, has been selected as the preferred operator for the Crossrail Train Operating Concession.

The Concession is an eight-year agreement, with an option for a further two years, to operate train services on Crossrail, a new 100 km railway, including 42 km of new tunnels from west to east across London. Service will commence in phases from 2015 to 2019.

MTR Crossrail will deliver train and passenger service operations including:

• providing world class customer experience through 40 Crossrail stations
• providing approximately 700 timetabled services
• a peak timetable frequency of 24 trains per hour
• totalling an estimated 11.4 million train service km per year

“MTR and TfL are recognised as two of the world’s leading railway operators and we are delighted to have the opportunity to bring our worldwide capabilities, experience and knowhow to Crossrail, which is truly a 21st century railway for a 21st century London.  Crossrail’s success will be finally realised through pioneering and sustaining a culture to deliver world class performance. We will work passionately, with TfL, to achieve this as we have in Hong Kong and our international operations including the highly successful London Overground service,” said Mr Jay Walder, Chief Executive Officer of MTR Corporation.

Mr Jeremy Long, CEO – European Business at MTR Corporation, added: “MTR knows London very well. Over the past seven years, we have developed a strong partnership and collaborative working relationship with TfL and Network Rail through our joint venture operations of London Overground. We will build on these partnerships to establish Crossrail as a railway that provides operational excellence and the highest possible level of customer service for London.”

In addition, MTR Corporation through MTR Crossrail will provide its proven expertise to support testing and commissioning activities for the new railway and manage system interfaces across the wider project through an integrated role working with Transport for London, Network Rail, Crossrail Limited, Bombardier for the new Crossrail trains and the other train operators.