Community Corner

Keolis Wins MBTA Commuter Rail Contract, Largest in State History

The base deal for Keolis comes to about $335 million per year, higher than what the current operator was paid with its contract a decade ago.

By Matt Perkins

French rail company Keolis will take over operation of the MBTA's commuter rail system, having won the state's largest operating contract in history, theMassachusetts Department of Transportation's board of directors voted Wednesday. 

With MassDOT's approval, state officials revealed the contract price of $2.68 billion over eight years with the possibility for two two-year extensions, according to a Boston.com report

The base deal would come to about $335 million per year, which is higher than the $214 million per year that was paid to current operator current operator Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Co. when first awarded its contract about 10 years ago, according to the report. 

Find out what's happening in Danverswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

MBTA General Manager Beverly Scott told the board, however, that the contract contains more potential penalties of $12 million per year verses the current $3 million per year, according to Boston.com.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here