National Express wins prestigious rail franchise
Updated on 14 August 2007
The winner of the battle to run the prestigious London to Scotland East Coast Main Line franchise has been announced.
National Express, which also runs the c2c and One Railway, beat off opposition from First Group, Arriva and a partnership between Virgin and Stagecoach.
It will take over the running of the route in mid-December from current operator GNER which has run ECML services since 1997 and won a competition to retain the franchise in 2005.
Last year, the Department for Transport retendered the deal after GNER's parent company, Bermuda-based Sea Containers, filed for bankruptcy protection in the US.
During the life of its franchise, GNER was obliged to pay the Treasury a total of £1.3 billion in premiums but revenues failed to match expectations.
National Express will pay the Government £1.4 billion during the franchise, which will run until March 2015.
It will be expected to deliver faster journey times, with London to Leeds services taking two hours, as well as more London to Edinburgh trains with journeys lasting four hours 20 minutes.
Additionally, it has committed to ensuring that nine out of ten trains run on time, as well as environmental benefits such as reducing fuel consumption per passenger kilometre by 28 per cent over the life of the franchise, and investment in four "green" stations.
National Express said unregulated fares are likely to rise by an average of retail price inflation (RPI) plus 2.1 per cent a year during the franchise.
The Government currently limits annual rises in regulated fares to RPI plus 1 per cent.
National Express chief executive Richard Bowker said: "We have won with a bid which is ambitious, deliverable and structured to generate shareholder value."
© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.
These news feeds are provided by an independent third party and Channel 4 is not responsible or liable to you for the same.
