Plenary, whose founders include Shamrock Rovers co-owner Ray Wilson (right), is increasingly active in Ireland, including lining up potential partners to bid to deliver the Metro Link rail scheme to connect Dublin city and the airport.
In Sydney, Plenary said it arranged and invested more than A$3bn (€1.8bn) of private capital to part-fund the public private partnership (PPP) rail project which has an overall cost of around A$21bn.
On Monday more than 190,000 trips were made on the first day of the new driverless rail service.
The rail extension in Sydney added 15.5km of new railway through some of the busiest parts of the city, including six new underground stations as well as new platforms at Central Station and Sydenham Station.
The service will run every four minutes during peak times and every 10 minutes during the off peak. Each of 45 new trains can each carry more than 1,150 people and can travel at speeds of up to 100kmh.
The new section of railway is the latest stage of an M1 Northwest & Bankstown Line which opened in 2019 and now extends to 51.5km through Sydney with stops at 21 stations.
A remaining 13km extension is also due to be added.
The New South Wales premier Chris Minns said the “massive piece of transport infrastructure” will genuinely transform the way people get to and from work.
Plenary is active in the PPP sector across a number of markets and has been pushing the potential benefits in Ireland.
Commenting on the new Sydney line Plenary’s chairman Paul Oppenheim credited the PPP model for helping deliver the new service.
“The PPP contract ensures we deliver a high standard of safety, reliability and customer service, reflected in overall customer satisfaction ratings of 98pc.
“In 2019, we entered into arrangements with the New South Wales government to extend the line through the city and southwest, again under a PPP arrangement. The scope involved delivering and integrating new rail systems and rolling stock into a seamless single metro line operated and maintained by the private sector,” he said.
Plenary Group was valued at around A$2bn (€1.2bn) after selling a 49pc stake earlier this year to a fund controlled by the oil rich government of Abu Dhabi.
Plenary remains majority owned and controlled by its founders and senior management team. The business was founded in Australia in 2004 by John O’Rourke, Ray Wilson, Paul Oppenheim and Jim Cox.
Dublin-born Ray Wilson stepped back from day-to-day management at Plenary in recent years, but he remains a senior adviser and director as well as a shareholder.
Last year he spent time in Ireland and led a push by Plenary into the market here including looking to partner on the Dublin Metro Link and other large- scale infrastructure schemes.
