How ComfortDelGro built a connected global network

Every day, a commuter taps into Stockholm’s metro before work, a family boards a London bus for the school run or a taxi picks up its next passenger in Perth. Few would realise these journeys could all be operated by the same Singapore-headquartered company. For many Singaporeans, ComfortDelGro is synonymous with its buses and blue taxis. But outside its home market, the group has spent years building a network spanning 13 countries across Europe, Asia and Australia. Today, more than half of the group’s revenue comes from its international operations. Its global footprint was not built through a single bold acquisition or dramatic reinvention. Instead, it grew through years of deliberate expansion, as the group identified opportunities where its expertise could create value. Along the way, it also saw the potential in linking its businesses – allowing technology, knowledge and ideas developed in one market to benefit others. “Singapore remains our core market, but it is a mature one, and the next phase of growth must come from overseas,” said ComfortDelGro managing director and group CEO Cheng Siak Kian. “Our growth is focused on areas where we have an advantage and where we can deploy capital in a disciplined manner to generate sustainable returns.” GROWTH WITH PURPOSE Today, ComfortDelGro operates two main businesses – public transport and point-to-point mobility – supported by services including engineering and maintenance, vehicle inspection and driving education. Each contributes differently to the group. Public transport provides stable, recurring earnings through long-term rail and bus contracts, while point-to-point mobility is shifting from its traditional taxi base towards a hybrid fleet-and-platform model, with greater emphasis on premium and enterprise customers. ComfortDelGro’s long-term contracted public transport portfolio accounts for 67 per cent of group revenue. More than 97 per cent of its public transport contracts have tenures of at least five years, with more than a third extending beyond 10 years. Its rail network has also grown fivefold since 2021 to 427km, expanding beyond Singapore to Auckland, Stockholm, Paris and most recently, Copenhagen. Together, these two businesses give ComfortDelGro several avenues for expansion, while reducing its dependence on any single business or geography. But diversification, said Mr Cheng, does not mean pursuing every opportunity that comes along. As the group evaluates where to grow, one consideration is what management calls its “right to win” – essentially, what ComfortDelGro can bring to the table. “In public transport, that could be our ability to bid for, mobilise and operate complex transport contracts, drawing on our rail expertise in Singapore as we pursue opportunities internationally. In point-to-point mobility, our reliability, service quality and operational excellence give us a clear competitive advantage as we continue to expand our premium and enterprise mobility business globally,” he explained. The same question applies when ComfortDelGro considers an acquisition: What can it add to the business – and what can that business bring to the wider group? WHEN THE MARKET CAUGHT UP This thinking is also reflected in ComfortDelGro’s approach to international rail tenders. “We are not looking to compete on the number of vehicles in the market,” said Mr Cheng. “We want to be focused on the work we can do well in, and that is premium and enterprise mobility.” Two recent UK acquisitions show how that strategy has played out. Premium private hire operator Addison Lee brought more than 50 years of experience in premium mobility and longstanding corporate customer relationships, while transport solutions provider CMAC added technology that coordinates demand and supply to optimise fleet utilisation. Together, they have extended ComfortDelGro’s point-to-point network to 39 cities across 10 countries. Their significance, however, goes beyond the UK. Addison Lee’s dispatch platform is increasingly being introduced in other cities. The group is also exploring how innovations developed in one market, such as Singapore’s dynamic pricing capabilities and CMAC’s demand-supply aggregation capabilities, can be adapted elsewhere. “As we grew our international footprint, it became clear that our strength lies not just in individual operations but in how we connect them,” said Mr Cheng. “Rather than simply adding scale, each acquisition either brought capabilities that could strengthen the wider organisation or provided diversification and additional sources of resilience. In each case, we take a disciplined approach to capital, considering strategic fit alongside financial returns, earnings quality and the capital required.” The benefits of a connected network are not limited to technology. Different regulations and operating conditions require strong local expertise, so ComfortDelGro invests in leadership teams with deep knowledge of each market while maintaining consistent standards across the group. Those teams also learn from one another. Bus operators in Singapore, Australia and the UK regularly exchange operational know-how, safety practices and service innovations, allowing an idea that works in one market to improve operations in another. The result is a business whose individual operations increasingly reinforce one another – with expertise and technology moving across borders. THE THREE BUILDING BLOCKS OF VALUE UNLOCK The SGX-MAS Value Unlock initiative is underpinned by three pillars that support listed companies in strengthening long-term value creation - Capabilities – Helping companies strengthen corporate strategy, capital optimisation and investor relations - Communications – Supporting clearer, more proactive communication and engagement with investors and the market - Communities – Fostering peer learning and collaboration to share best practices across Singapore’s listed company ecosystem PREPARING FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER OF MOBILITY The question of where to invest becomes even more important as mobility itself changes. ComfortDelGro is backing innovations that can improve its services today while exploring others that could create new avenues for growth. Artificial intelligence (AI) is already being applied across its operations, and is used to drive transformation in four domains: demand, pricing and dispatch; customer, driver and service; fleet, asset and maintenance; and enterprise productivity. In Singapore, SBS Transit uses AI and machine learning to monitor more than 200 equipment parameters, helping prevent potential bus breakdowns. In London, Metroline’s AI-powered FlowOS Live platform manages more than 1,000 buses in real time, improving reliability and reducing passenger delays. In September this year, SBS Transit also started using the same technology. Autonomous mobility is a longer-term opportunity. ComfortDelGro has operated robotaxis in Guangzhou since March 2025, while public rides on its Zig Driverless Shuttle began in Punggol in June 2026. Early results have given the group greater confidence that autonomous services can become commercially viable, said Mr Cheng. ComfortDelGro is also drawing on infrastructure and experience it already has. Its capabilities in charging, maintenance, training and fleet operations can be adapted as autonomous services expand. The group aims to transition about 10 per cent of its owned global point-to-point fleet to autonomous vehicles by 2030, where regulatory and commercial conditions allow. It will also be establishing a regional centre of operational excellence in Shenzhen. For Mr Cheng, ComfortDelGro’s journey has reinforced one lesson: Established businesses need to strengthen what already works while making room for new sources of growth. Doing so requires knowing where to focus. “It is important to make clear choices and follow through,” he said. “Companies must concentrate resources on the few priorities that matter most, establish clear accountability and be prepared to adjust course when the evidence shows that something is not working.”