FirstGroup PLC Statement re Great Western franchise

 
TIDMFGP 
 
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: [phone] 
 
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 GBP5.2 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. 
 
 
 
END 
 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 06, 2016 10:00 ET (15:00 GMT)