Middle East Business
Keolis opens a Dubai regional headquarters to pursue metro, tram and rail work across the Middle East
By Staff Writer | 22 October 2026
The operator of the Dubai Metro, Dubai Tram, Doha Metro and Lusail Tram says the new office will bring it closer to transport authorities as it bids for metro, light rail, intercity and high-speed rail work.
Keolis, the public transport operator, has opened a regional headquarters in Dubai. The group says the office will act as the hub for its operations across the Middle East, put it closer to the transport authorities it already works for, and support its pursuit of new transport projects in the region.
The announcement was made on 21 October by Frédéric Van Heems, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Keolis Group, and Alistair Gordon, who runs the Middle East, Asia and Pacific zone.
The networks it already runs
Keolis already runs networks in Qatar and the UAE. Since 2018 it has run the Doha Metro and the Lusail Tram in Qatar through a joint venture, including through the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In the UAE, Keolis MHI began operating and maintaining the Dubai Metro, and operating the Dubai Tram, in 2021, working with Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority. Those networks carry around one million passengers a day.
This year the group also launched the UAE's first passenger railway service through a joint venture with Etihad Rail.
This headquarters is essential for our growth in the Middle East. It will allow us to work more closely with our clients and support the region's major mobility projects.
Alistair Gordon, CEO, Keolis Middle East, Asia and Pacific Zone
Van Heems said the group had shown it could run trains, metro and tram systems reliably from Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, and described the new office as a sign of its long-term commitment to its clients and of its readiness to take on the larger transport projects now planned in the region. The company says the Dubai base will also be used to identify and develop new business.
What it plans to bid for
The company says it will pursue opportunities across metro, light rail, intercity and high-speed railway projects, alongside bus rapid transit networks and bus fleets running on alternative energy. Its plans also extend to first and last mile connections through micromobility, on-demand services and autonomous transport, with artificial intelligence applied to the running of networks.
Why it matters to project teams
On many rail schemes the operator joins the bidding consortium or sets the operating and maintenance requirements that shape the design. An operator with a regional base and three live networks behind it is in a position to take part in those discussions from an early stage.
For designers, systems integrators and contractors, that makes the operator's view of maintainability, depot layout and systems interfaces a factor to plan around from the outset, because it is the operator who will live with those choices for the length of the concession.