Stagecoach Group PLC West Coast Partnership rail franchise (1871D)

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RNS Number : 1871D

Stagecoach Group PLC

25 April 2017

25 April 2017

Stagecoach and Virgin join forces with SNCF for West Coast Partnership rail franchise bid

Stagecoach Group ("Stagecoach") and Virgin Group ("Virgin") announced today (25 April 2017) that they are joining forces with French high speed operator SNCF to bid for the West Coast Partnership rail franchise.

The Government has announced that the West Coast Partnership franchise will run from 2019. The franchise will include current West Coast services and the first few years of operation of High Speed 2 ("HS2") services.

Stagecoach has a 50% share in the bid vehicle, West Coast Partnership Limited, with a 30% share held by SNCF and the remaining 20% owned by Virgin. It is envisaged that services under a successful bid would carry the Virgin brand.

Martin Griffiths, Chief Executive of Stagecoach Group, said: "This creates a powerful world-class partnership, bringing together the team which has transformed inter-city rail travel in the UK with the most recognised and capable high speed operator in Europe.

"The new franchise has an important role to play in delivering the improvements and space on our railway that can support our communities and economy. Together, we have a very strong track record of working effectively with other rail partners and infrastructure providers, as well as using cutting edge technology to achieve a step change in customer service."

Patrick McCall, Virgin Trains co-Chairman said: "I'm delighted that SNCF has come on board, and together we will put forward what we hope is the winning bid for the next West Coast, and first HS2, franchise. We've just celebrated twenty years of Virgin Trains and this news puts us in the best possible position to make it thirty.

"We've always focussed on customers throughout our history, introducing many UK firsts such as tilting trains, automatic compensation for delays, M-Ticketing and free films and TV on-board via our BEAM service. We're thrilled about the prospect of continuing and improving this record of innovation with the UK's first long distance high speed network, as well as with our friends and communities along the West Coast."

Guillaume Pepy, Chairman and CEO of SNCF said: "This is a very exciting development for SNCF. We are world leaders in high speed rail. SNCF has a long-standing commitment to working in partnership with British companies, using their local knowledge and sharing our expertise and experience.

"Today, we are delighted to announce this next step in our commitment to UK rail, working with partners who have demonstrated their own expertise in long distance rail services and are highly regarded in the industry. We appreciate Stagecoach's widespread expertise across a variety of transport modes and Virgin's reputation for its renowned customer experience. In partnership, we will deliver a successful HS2 service for the UK."

Virgin, Stagecoach and SNCF have already worked together on the first stage of the West Coast Partnership bid, the "Expression of Interest", which was submitted yesterday. The partners will now prepare for the "Invitation to Tender" which is expected to be issued by the end of the year.

Ends

For further information, please contact:

Analysts

   Ross Paterson, Finance Director                        01738 442111 
   Bruce Dingwall, Group Financial Controller       01738 442111 

Media

Steven Stewart, Director of Corporate Communications 01738 442111 or 07764 774680

Notes to Editors

Stagecoach Group

Stagecoach is an international public transport group, with operations in the UK, the United States and Canada. The Group employs around 40,000 people, and operates around 13,000 buses, coaches, trains and trams.

Stagecoach is one of the UK's biggest bus and coach operators with around 8,500 buses and coaches on a network stretching from south-west England to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Low-cost coach service, megabus.com, operates a network of inter-city services across the UK.

Stagecoach is a major UK rail operator, running the South West Trains, Island Line and East Midlands Trains networks. It also has a 49% shareholding in Virgin Rail Group, which operates the West Coast rail franchise, and a 90% shareholding in Virgin Trains East Coast, which operates the East Coast rail franchise.

Stagecoach operates the Supertram light rail network in Sheffield.

In North America, Stagecoach operates around 2,300 buses and coaches in the United States and Canada. megabus.com operates a network of inter-city coach services in North America. Stagecoach is also involved in operating commuter, transit, contracted, charter, airport shuttle and sightseeing services.

For further information, go to www.stagecoach.com.

Virgin Trains

Stagecoach and Virgin are working in partnership to operate the East Coast and West Coast inter-city routes under the Virgin Trains brand. Together, they are on track to revolutionise rail travel across the UK.

The combined network connects some of the nation's most iconic destinations including Glasgow, Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leeds, York and London.

Virgin Trains is committed to delivering a high speed, high frequency service, offering shorter journey times, more comfortable travel and excellent customer service. Customers consistently rate Virgin Trains as one of the top long-distance rail franchise operators in the National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS) commissioned by industry watchdog, Transport Focus.

On the East Coast route, GBP140m is being invested to create a more personalised travel experience. We have already invested GBP21m to completely revamp our existing fleet and customers can now benefit from 42 additional services (22,000 extra seats) per week between Edinburgh and London. 2018 will see the introduction of completely new Azuma trains being built in the UK by Hitachi.

The West Coast route has a proud record of challenging the status quo - from introducing tilting Pendolino trains, to a pioneering automated delay repay scheme and becoming the first franchised rail operator to offer m-Tickets for all ticket types.

About SNCF Group

SNCF is a global leader in passenger and freight transport services with revenue of EUR32.3 billion in 2016, of which one-third is from international markets. With 260,000 employees in 120 countries, SNCF draws on its foundations in French rail and on its extensive experience as an architect of transport services. It aims to become the benchmark for mobility and logistics solutions, both in France and worldwide. SNCF has six core businesses: SNCF Réseau (management and operation of the French rail network); SNCF Voyageurs (commuter transport in the Paris region, regional and inter-city public transport, high-speed rail in France and Europe); SNCF Gares & Connexions (management and development of stations); SNCF Logistics (freight transport and logistics worldwide); Keolis (mass transit and public transport in Europe and around the globe); and SNCF Immobilier (management and optimization of SNCF property and land assets). www.sncf.com

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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April 25, 2017 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)