Link with high-speed operator offers launch pad into Europe
MTR Corp has joined forces with a British company to bid for a rail franchise in England in an attempt to break into the US$20 billion European railway market.
The partially privatised company formed a 29-71 joint venture with high-speed rail operator Great North Eastern Railway Holdings (GNER) yesterday to bid for the train service between Ashford in Kent and St Pancras station in London, as well as a new Channel Tunnel rail link from London due to come into service in 2008-09.
The Kent project is also associated with residential property development, similar to the MTR's rail-and-property business model in Hong Kong which involves the building of residential flats along new rail lines, generating sales to subsidise heavy rail investment and create passengers.
By 2016, about 120,000 new homes are planned for Ashford, the Thames Gateway area in North Kent and towns in the Medway region.
'While the MTR has been active in providing railway consultancy services in the UK, this will be our first entry as a railway operator in this market,' MTR managing director Phil Gaffney said.
The Kent franchise, now held by South East Trains, is one of five put up for sale by the British government to improve efficiency and service standards.
