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Railhub Archive 1999-12-22 SRA-002 Shadow Strategic Rail Authority0
Building a better railway: first companies prequalify for franchise replacement
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         Building a better railway: first companies prequalify for franchise replacement _______________________________________________________________

 related documents
type Press release
The Shadow Strategic Rail Authority today announced the names of those companies which have prequalified for the first phase of franchise replacement.
The first three franchises, for which proposals had been invited on 24th November, were: Great North Eastern Railway Chiltern Railways Connex South Central
In each case, the present franchise operator has been prequalified. Other established franchise operators have also been selected, as well as one new company - Arriva - which is an established bus operator, but new to passenger rail franchising.
The companies now have 60 days to prepare detailed proposals for consideration by the SSRA, which will then select those to go forward for final negotiations. It is expected that the replacement franchises will be determined in the spring and become effective in the second half of the year.
Companies which have pre-qualified are: GNER: Sea Containers (owners of Great North Eastern Railway) Virgin Rail Group in conjunction with Stagecoach Chiltern: M40 Trains (subsidiary of Laing Group - owners of Chiltern Railways) Go-Ahead (franchisee of Thames Trains) Arriva Connex South Central: Connex Rail (subsidiary of Vivendi SA) GoVia (franchisee of Thameslink) Stagecoach (franchisee for neighbouring South West Trains franchise)
Franchising Director and SSRA Chief Executive, Mike Grant, said: "I am pleased at the level of interest amongst transport operators which has allowed us to pre-qualify such an impressive group of companies. Strong competition for the replacement franchises will drive up the quality of proposals with benefits for passengers and the taxpayer."
"In the case of the Virgin and Stagecoach interest in GNER, if they are to progress to the next stage, they will need to satisfy me that they have the resources to manage this additional franchise, that they can deliver the required performance standards and that it is in the interests of passengers that the two major London to Scotland franchises should be in the hands of a single franchisee.
"Interest in the neighbouring Connex South Central franchise from GoVia and South West Trains offers the opportunity, in both cases, for a significant adjustment in franchise geography. These will be evaluated as alternatives to replacement of the existing franchise" .
Note to Editors
The SSRA announced the launch of its franchise replacement programme on 24 November, starting with the Chiltern, Connex South Central and Great North Eastern franchises. A further statement about the Authority 's approach for the second round of replacement was issued on 9 December.
Important Notice This news release is issued by the Franchising Director and its contents have been approved for the purposes of section 57 of the Financial Services Act 1986 by KPMG Corporate Finance.
KPMG Corporate Finance is a division of KPMG, which is authorised to carry on investment business by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. This news release has been prepared for general information purposes only and is not intended to form the basis of any investment decision or constitute an offer or invitation to bid for any passenger rail franchise or to acquire shares in a train operating company. Neither this news release nor any copy of it should be taken into or distributed in Canada, France, Japan or the United States except in accordance with an applicable exemption. The distribution of this news release in other jurisdictions may be restricted by law and therefore persons into whose possession this news release comes should inform themselves about and observe any such restriction.
Railhub Archive ::: 1999-12-22 SRA-002
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