SBS Transit partners RATP to vie for new business in Singapore

SBS Transit has partnered France's public transport operator RATP Dev to view for new business prospects in the Singapore rail industry.

A new, jointly-owned company will be set up and helmed by staff selected from both organisations, SBS and RATP Dev said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

This new company will also propose "centres of excellence" to reduce reliance on original equipment manufacturers and life-cycle reliability, as part of efforts to strengthen the reliability of Singapore's railway system and promote local rail engineering capabilities, SBS and RATP Dev added.

The new company will also leverage the international expertise of RATP Dev's parent company, the RATP Group, in areas such as system agnostic procurement and maintenance.

This partnership comes about six months after a similar agreement was signed between SBS Transit's parent company, ComfortDelGro, and RATP Dev to jointly bid for Lines 16 and 17 of the Grand Paris Express greenfield metro projects in France's Greater Paris region.

According to the statement, RATP Dev has more than 1.5 billion passengers a year on its networks. SBS, meanwhile, records more than three million passenger trips on its network of buses and trains every day.

Shares of SBS closed down 1.61 per cent at S$3.05 on Tuesday after the announcement.