Strategic Rail Authority

Four invited to submit final bids for Wales and Borders franchise
_______________________________________________________________

date 1 October 2002
source Strategic Rail Authority
type Press release

The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) today announced that it has invited four bidders to prepare best and final offers for the new passenger rail franchise for Wales and Borders. The four bidders are:

Arriva Trains Ltd
GB Railways Plc/Connex Transport UK Limited
National Express Group PLC
Serco Rail/Netherlands Railways

The final bidder will be selected once the best and final offers have been received and considered.

Nick Newton, Chief Operating Officer said:
"We have four strong contenders to take through to the next stage of
tendering for this new, allWales rail franchise. The franchise will give certainty
to passengers throughout the area and will provide the services a nd benefits
they deserve."

Notes to Editors
1. The franchise term is for 15 years.
2. The SRA announced in January 2002 that eight parties had prequalified:
Arriva Trains Ltd, Connex Transport UK Ltd, FirstGroup plc,
GB Railways Group plc, National Express Group plc, NS/Dutch
Railways, Serco Ltd, Keolis SA. First Group announced their
withdrawal from the process in May 2002. The SRA accepted a joint
bid from GB Railways Plc/Connex Transport UK Ltd in July 2002. In
addition, the SRA agreed to take forward the initial Serco bid as a joint
venture bid by Serco/Netherlands Railways.
3. It will include all local and regional passenger rail services within
Wales, services from Cardiff to Hereford, Shrewsbury and Manchester,
and those from Wales to Birmingham, North West England and the
West Country. The services are currently operated by National Express
Group plc, using the "Wales & Borders" branding - with the exception
of services in North Wales and parts of the North West of England,
currently operated by First North Western.
4. The Wales & Borders franchise will bring together under one
management the local and interurban trains in Wales and the Welsh
Border counties plus many longer distance services running between
Wales and the West Midlands and North West England.
5. The new franchise will include the operation of all stations in Wales,
and those predominately served by the new franchise in the border
counties, including Chester, Shrewsbury and Hereford.
6. Long-distance high-speed services to and from Wales will continue to
be operated by First Great Western, Virgin CrossCountry and Virgin
West Coast.
7. The SRA today also announced the shortlisted bidders for the
Merseyrail franchise.
8. The SRA is the government body responsible for allocating funding to
the railways, and providing leadership to the rail industry.

Railhub Archive ::: 2002-10-01 SRA-001