ComfortDelGro Australia wins bid to operate bus services in Darwin

COMFORTDELGRO Australia (CDC) on Thursday (Jun 2) said its wholly-owned subsidiary CDC Darwin has won the Northern Territory Government tender for a 6-year contract to operate bus services in Darwin, Australia.

CDC Darwin will be the sole operator of public bus transport in Darwin, Palmerston, rural areas and special needs services in the region, CDC Australia said in a press statement.

It noted that the Darwin and urban service contract areas cover a “significant” part of the Northern Territory’s public transport network - 170 vehicles operate across more than 180 bus routes.

ComfortDelGro said its bus fleet size in Australia is currently about 2,800.

The new contract will start from Jul 1. CDC Australia will operate under its new CDC Northern Territory branding, replacing the existing Buslink branding. The transport operator plans to hire over 340 people and operate more than 210 buses in the Northern Territory.

CDC Australia will also operate reduced emissions buses, with 9 new Volvo hybrid buses used on urban routes in the contract period.

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Alongside these new contract areas, CDC Australia also operates in the Alice Springs, Batchelor and Jabiru school services, which were awarded to CDC Australia entities in late 2021.

ComfortDelGro closed 1.4 per cent or S$0.02 higher at S$1.46 on Wednesday.