2003-07-11 Stagecoach Group signs new South West Trains deal (Stagecoach Group)

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date 17 August 2000
source Shadow Strategic Rail Authority
type Press release

The Shadow Strategic Rail Authority (sSRA) today announced that three
parties have been shortlisted to compete for the South West Trains franchise.

The companies selected are:

Stagecoach Holdings plc (franchisee of South West Trains and Island Line)

FirstGroup plc (franchisee of Great Eastern, Great Western and North
Western) in association with Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Dutch Railways)

GNER Holdings Limited (subsidiary of Sea Containers Limited and
franchisee of GNER)

SSRA Chief Executive, Mike Grant, said:

"The South West Trains franchisee is a significant operator in the rail network,
with many thousands of commuters depending on its services for their daily
journey to work. Replacement of this franchise is a prerequisite to providing
relief to the current pressure that exists on capacity in the approach to
Waterloo."

"The decision to shortlist these three companies follows careful consideration
of the proposals we received. We will now be embarking on negotiations to
decide the future owner of this franchise. Throughout this process our key
aims will be to ensure the best possible deal for the passenger, with strong
investment commitments and improved customer service, along with value for
the taxpayer."

Notes to Editors

1. The replacement franchise proposal is based on the existing South
West Trains franchise, with the option to include or exclude services
between Waterloo and Salisbury/Exeter.
2. Connex Rail had pre-qualified to submit proposals for the South West
Trains franchise but was unsuccessful in moving forward to the
negotiation stage.
3. Announcements will be made within the next few weeks on the
shortlists for the other two franchises in the second round of
replacement - Central Trains and Transpennine Express.

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
restrictions.

KPMG Corporate Finance is acting for the Franchising Director and will not
regard any other person as its client in relation to passenger railway
franchising or be responsible to anyone other than the Franchising Director for
providing the protections afforded to clients of KPMG Corporate Finance nor
for advising any other person on the contents of this news release or any
matter referred to in it.

Railhub Archive ::: 2000-08-17 SRA-001