FIRSTGROUP PLC
STATEMENT RE GREAT WESTERN FRANCHISE
FirstGroup plc notes that the Department of Transport (DfT) is
now assuming that it will exercise its option to extend the Great
Western direct award by 13 reporting periods to April 2020 in its latest franchise timetable,
published today.
Contacts at FirstGroup:
Faisal Tabbah, Head of Investor
Relations
Stuart Butchers, Group Head of Media
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7725 3354
Notes
Great Western Railway (GWR) provides long distance, commuter,
regional and branch line train services, carrying more than 100
million passengers every year across the Great Western rail
franchise area, which includes South
Wales, the West Country, the Cotswolds, and large parts of
Southern England. FirstGroup
signed an agreement in 2015 with the DfT to operate the franchise
until 1 April 2019, which could also
be extended by up to one further year (13 reporting periods) at the
DfT’s discretion. The Group brings experience of managing the route
over many years to ensure the successful delivery of the Great
Western Mainline modernisation programme, which is the biggest
investment on the route since Brunel. During this time GWR are
introducing new or refurbished trains on every part of the network
meaning additional and more frequent services, reduced journey
times and more seats.
FirstGroup plc (LSE: FGP.L) is a leading transport operator in
the UK and North America. With
£5.2 billion in revenues and 110,000 employees, we transported
around 2.2 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 around
47,000 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 coach services. In the UK, FirstGroup is one of
Britain's largest bus operators
running a fleet of some 6,200 buses, and we are one of the
country's most experienced passenger rail operators, carrying
around 140 million passengers last year.
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.