Kinetic wants to ‘shake up’ Australian transport with rail assault
The Kinetic Group, which runs the red SkyBuses that transfer people from airports to city centres, plans to “shake up” Australia’s transportation industry and join the contest for train and tram network contracts.
The company, which has to date specialised in buses and is backed by pension and infrastructure funds, now operates rail networks in Britain and Norway following its $1 billion acquisition of the Go-Ahead Group in partnership with Spanish transport operator Globalvia.
Kinetic co-founder Michael Sewards, pictured in Melbourne last week, is using the company’s acquisition of the UK’s Go-Ahead Group to bid for rail contracts in Australia. Wayne Taylor
It will compete hard for contracts as it tries to become a multi-modal transport operator in Australia, co-chief executive Michael Sewards told The Australian Financial Review.
“We’ve got $10 billion to $20 billion in rail and light rail contracts coming up in the next few years in Australia and New Zealand,” he said. “We think the industry’s due for a bit of a shake-up.”
Kinetic could even bid for a potential Melbourne Airport rail link – if the project returns to the drawing board after being put on the backburner as the federal government reviews its national infrastructure priorities.
“We will certainly say, ‘you know, we’re operating the largest rail network in the UK and probably Europe, we’ve got a hat to put in a ring there to operate that as well’ when it comes up,” Mr Sewards said.
The contracts awarded by governments to run Australia’s rail services are typically won by public transport specialists, such as France’s Keolis, which operates Melbourne’s trams in a joint venture with Downer EDI. Another French group, Transdev, operates Sydney’s light rail.
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