FIRSTGROUP PLC
STATEMENT RE:
GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY FRANCHISE
FirstGroup welcomes the publication by the Department for
Transport (‘DfT’) of a new strategic vision for the railways which
sets out a number of proposals to increase capacity and improve
service for customers.
Accompanying this, the DfT has announced plans for the future of
the Great Western rail network. The DfT has confirmed it will
exercise its option to extend the current Great Western Railway
(‘GWR’) franchise contract by one year, to 1
April 2020. The DfT has also announced that it intends
to negotiate a direct award for the GWR franchise for a duration of
two years to April 2022, with an
option for an extension of up to two further years at the DfT’s
discretion.
In addition, the DfT also begins a public consultation today on
how rail services are delivered across the Great Western network in
any future new franchise and as the current operator, we will work
with the DfT to support this.
Our extensive experience of managing the Great Western route, in
partnership with Network Rail, will be critical to the success of
the £7.5bn Great Western Mainline modernisation programme and the
continued delivery of passenger improvements.
Commenting, Tim O’Toole, FirstGroup’s Chief Executive, said:
“We welcome the publication of the DfT’s new strategic vision
for the railways and look forward to progressing this with the
Government.
“We are pleased that our strong track record at GWR is
recognised, and that the DfT intend to extend the franchise and
negotiate a further direct award lasting at least two years. A
period of detailed negotiation will now follow, but this
opportunity will create further stability on the Great Western
route as our experienced team continue their work with our partners
to transform a key part of the country’s transport
infrastructure.
“GWR was recently awarded Rail Operator of the Year, and our
passengers are already seeing the benefits of significant
investment. We have introduced new suburban and long distance
trains with more seats, and going forward the upgrade work will
enable us to offer more frequent and faster services. These will
help keep people moving and communities prospering across the
network for generations to come.”
Notes to Editors
About FirstGroup plc
FirstGroup plc (LSE: FGP.L) is a leading transport operator in
the UK and North America. With
£5.7 billion in revenue and more than 100,000 employees, we
transported around two billion passengers last year. Each of our
five divisions is a leader in its field: In North America, First
Student is the largest provider of student transportation with a
fleet of more than 40,000 yellow school buses, First Transit is one
of the largest providers of outsourced transit management and
contracting services, while Greyhound is the only nationwide
operator of scheduled intercity coaches. In the UK, First Bus is
one of Britain's largest bus
operators, transporting 1.6 million passengers a day.
About First Rail
FirstGroup is one of the most experienced rail operators in the
UK and the only one to run every sort of railway - long distance,
regional, commuter and sleeper operations. We carried around 130
million passengers in 2016/17.
o We operate three passenger franchises
– Great Western Railway (GWR), South Western Railway (SWR) and
TransPennine Express – and one open access service, Hull
Trains.
o We operate the Tramlink network on
behalf of Transport for London
carrying around 30 million passengers a year and the Heathrow
Connect service in partnership with Heathrow Airport.
Our vision is to provide solutions for
an increasingly congested world... keeping people moving and
communities prospering.
Visit our website at www.firstgroupplc.com and follow us
@firstgroupplc on Twitter.
Contacts at FirstGroup:
Faisal Tabbah, Group Investor
Relations Manager
Stuart Butchers, Group Head of Media
Tel: +44 20 7725 3354
Contacts at Brunswick PR:
Andrew Porter, Tel: +44 20 7404
5959