Turning over a new franchise: Assessing the current health of public transport management in Melbourne

Abstract

Melbourne s unique franchise model for public transport management and service delivery, now a decade old, is a subject of international interest for practitioners and scholars of transport planning. In December 2009, two new franchisees, under reworked eight-year contract arrangements, took over the operation of Melbourne s train and tram systems ending the ten-year run of the two survivors of the first decade of public transport privatisation - Connex (Veolia) and the Transdev/Transfield consortium. Based on material from public documents and interviews with senior managers from the departing companies and the Victorian Department of Transport, this research uses the perspectives of the de..