Serco loses out to Keolis and Amey on Docklands Light Rail franchise

A Keolis and Amey joint venture has secured the franchise to operate and maintain the Docklands Light Railway in London for the next six and a half years.

It will be the first time the franchise, which has been held by Serco since the DLR opened in 1997, has changed hands. Alistair Gordon, chief executive of Keolis UK, said the French company was the world's largest operator of light rail networks.

Serco has placed its hopes on rail franchise wins after a fifth was wiped off the value of its shares following a profit warning for 2014. Following this, Serco succeeded in winning the Northern Rail franchise that it was also re-bidding for.