Greenidge from Southern, and hired David Franks, one of the industry’s most experienced train company managers. Franks, formerly head of National Express’s rail division, is MD-designate of any franchise they win. Keolis is competing against Virgin, Abellio and FirstGroup for the West Coast franchise. The bids are due in May, with the winner announced in August. Keolis is a vast organisation with some 47,000 employees and an annual turnover of €4bn. But how big is the team in the UK? ‘Pure Keolis?


Well… I suppose… probably 20 of us. You will find all owning groups have a very small HQ staff. When you bid for a franchise you get all the staff – they transfer from the existing workforce. We have the ability to come in and take over a franchise.’


Gordon has been with Keolis since 2004, leading the bidding for Southern and Southeastern. He has worked away from the limelight and one senses that is his preference. He’s a strategic thinker and planner rather than someone who likes to get his hands dirty with the nitty gritty of running the day-to-day railway. Gordon sits on the boards of all the franchises in which Keolis has a stake – Southern, Southeastern, London Midland, TransPennine Express and the NET trams in Nottingham.


He won’t be drawn on which franchises Keolis will tackle solo and which will continue to be done in partnership with Go Ahead. But it seems logical that Gordon will follow West Coast with an attempt for


PAGE 22 APRIL 2012


‘All owning groups have a very small HQ staff. When you bid for a franchise, you get all the staff from the existing workforce’


East Coast, and that the joint venture will fight for the big prize of Thameslink, perhaps along with Essex Thameside. Govia won Thameslink at privatisation and later lost out to FirstGroup. This time around, the new super-franchise will incorporate the whole of Southern and bits of Southeastern, and it will comfortably overtake South West Trains as the country’s largest passenger rail business.


There will be no further bids in partnership with FirstGroup, against which Keolis will compete head-on. Gordon sees Great Western as a more challenging


bid than West Coast, which has already seen £10bn of investment. Keolis had been planning to bid for it, either solo or as a joint venture. But when the deadline to join the beauty contest passed in February, the company’s name was not on the list. ‘Great Western has the unknown impact of Crossrail – not yet fully defined. How far will electrification go? Still not fully defined. There will be all new rolling stock


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