National Express wins two German rail contracts

RNS Number : 3193Q

National Express Group PLC

16 June 2015

 

16 June 2015

National Express wins two new German rail contracts

Further success in the North Rhine-Westphalia region

National Express Group PLC ("National Express" or the "Group"), is a leading international public transport group, operating bus, coach, rail and tram services across the UK, continental Europe, North Africa, North America and Bahrain.

National Express - which operates the UK's best performing rail franchise, c2c - is delighted that local transport authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia have today confirmed it as the preferred bidder for a further two rail contracts in Germany.

These contracts are for two of the three that cover the Rhine-Ruhr Express (RRX) services which operate between cities including Cologne, Dusseldorf and Dortmund, in Germany's most populous region. National Express' services will carry approximately 30 million passengers a year.

The first of the contracts starts in December 2018 and the second in December 2020. Both will run until December 2033.

These RRX services serve the same region and some of the same cities as the two contracts that National Express will begin operating in December this year.

Together these two new contracts are expected to generate revenues of around €1 billion over their lifetimes.

Dean Finch, National Express Group Chief Executive, said: "National Express is delighted with this further success in German rail. It strengthens our presence in the North Rhine-Westphalia region, where we begin operating our first contracts later this year.

"I am very pleased with the progress that our strong local team is making. They are focused on delivering rigorous proposals that will provide excellent services for passengers, a fair deal for local taxpayers and good returns for shareholders. We look forward to providing passengers in the North Rhine-Westphalia region with a high quality rail service for many years to come."

Enquiries:

National Express Group PLC Matt Ashley, Group Finance Director Louise Richardson, Investor Relations Manager	0121 460 8655 07767 603386
Maitland Rebecca Mitchell Andy Donald	07951 057351 07738 346460

Notes to editors

The two contracts cover three lines serving: Koblenz-Cologne-Wesel; Cologne-Dusseldorf-Minden; Aachen-Dusseldorf-Dortmund.

The three lines serve a region of 15 million inhabitants.

These contracts have been let by seven local authorities led by the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr authority.

National Express will begin operating its first two contracts - the Rhine Munster Express services - in December this year. These contracts consist of a regional express service between Rheine-Munster-Cologne-Krefeld and a Bonn-Cologne-Wuppertal stopping service.

National Express' selection as the preferred bidder for the two contracts to run the Nuremberg S-Bahn services, announced in February, is currently the subject of appeal. This appeal will be heard over the summer.

 

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