Statement re South Western rail franchise

FIRSTGROUP PLC
(‘FirstGroup’ or ‘the Group’)

Statement re: SHORTLISTING FOR SOUTH WESTERN RAIL FRANCHISE COMPETITION

FirstGroup has been shortlisted for the South Western rail franchise competition by the Department for Transport (‘DfT’).

Commenting, Steve Montgomery, First Rail Managing Director said:

“We have extensive experience of running commuter, inter-urban, regional and long distance services – such as those that make up the South Western franchise – and a strong track record in delivering passenger growth, as well as capacity and infrastructure upgrades, on our Great Western Railway and First TransPennine Express networks. The South Western franchise plays a crucial role in keeping people moving and communities prospering across the region. We are developing an innovative and value for money proposal that will deliver better connectivity and significant improvements for customers. We look forward to the publication of further details by the DfT.”

Contacts at FirstGroup:

Faisal Tabbah, Group Investor Relations Manager

Stuart Butchers, Group Head of Media

Tel: [phone]

Contacts at Brunswick PR:

Michael Harrison / Andrew Porter, Tel: [phone]

Notes

FirstGroup plc (LSE: FGP.L; the 'Group') is the leading transport operator in the UK and North America. With approximately £6 billion in revenues and around 110,000 employees, we transported around 2.4 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 49,000 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 6,300 buses, and we are one of the country's most experienced passenger rail operators, carrying around 280 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