ComfortDelGro faces stiff competition as it guns for London Overground concession

It's one of the four shortlisted bidders.

ComfortDelGro is up against strong contenders in its bid to operate the London Overground rail network, according to a report by DBS.

DBS analyst Andy Sim noted that while CDL's subsidiary is one of the four shortlisted companies, it faces stiff competition from other bidders such as Arriva Rail and MTR Corporation.

"The four shortlisted bidders are all strong contenders, in our view, with experience in rail operations
either in the UK or elsewhere. Furthermore, we noted separate bids by Arriva and MTR Corporation, who are the current incumbents albeit through a joint venture. This possibly signals the attractiveness of this concession,
in our view," Sim said.

Here's more from DBS:
London Overground is a suburban rail network and is managed by TfL. Currently, London Overground Rail Operations
Ltd (LOROL) is the current operator since London Overground’s launch in 2007.

LOROL is a 50%/50% JV between Deutsche Bahn AG (managed by Arriva) and MTR Corporation. LOROL’s current concession is ending in November 2016.

Concession is for 7.5year from Nov 2016. The tender for the new concession is from Nov 2016 and for a period of 7.5 years with an option to extend by up to two years at TfL’s discretion.

Based on TfL’s media release, we understand that the terms of the concession will be substantially similar to the current concession. TfL will be responsible for setting the fares, retain the fare revenue as well as all non-ticket revenue at the stations.

Bids to be submitted by mid-Oct 2015. The tender documents will be issued by end July. The tender period will be three months from then, with the shortlisted bidders submitting their respective bids by mid-October.