ComfortDelGro, partners to bid for France metro projects

COMFORTDELGRO Corporation has entered into a collaboration agreement with RATP Dev and Alstom to jointly bid for Grand Paris Express (GPE) greenfield metro projects in France's Greater Paris region.

This comes as the transport group sets its sights on expanding its rail capabilities beyond Singapore.

RATP Dev is the international operating arm of French multimodal transport operator RATP Group, while Alstom is a French transport infrastructure company.

Together, the transit companies will submit bids for the upcoming Lines 16 and 17 of the GPE project, which covers a total of 200 kilometres (km) of the automated metro.

GPE is a group of new rapid transit lines being built in the Île-de-France region of France. It ranks as one of the largest in Europe, said ComfortDelGro in a regulatory update on Friday.

Prequalification submissions for GPE Lines 16 and 17 had closed on Thursday.

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The transport group will participate in the bid through ComfortDelGro Transit Pte Ltd - a newly set-up subsidiary.

ComfortDelGro chairman Lim Jit Poh called the move a "significant" step in furthering the group's vision of expanding rail capabilities beyond the Republic. The group had been operating light and heavy rail in Singapore for 17 years, amassing strong capabilities, he added.

"As a group, ComfortDelGro will continue to look at opportunities around the world, especially in countries we already operate in as we work at growing our rail portfolio," Mr Lim said.

ComfortDelGro shares closed at S$1.62 on Thursday, down S$0.03 or 1.8 per cent.