National Express announces new business successes

RNS Number : 9771A

National Express Group PLC

27 March 2013

 



National Express Group plc

27 March 2013

National Express delighted to announce important new business successes in UK Coach and North American Transit

National Express Group PLC ("National Express") is delighted to announce that its UK Coach and North American Transit operations have recently won important new business.

UK Coach win

National Express has underlined its position as the leader in affordable airport travel following a major new agreement with one of the UK's leading airports. 

National Express - the UK's largest operator - will begin running dedicated services between London Luton Airport and London Victoria Coach Station, from May 1^st. The services are expected to deliver a minimum of £6 million of annual revenue. The agreement lasts for seven years.

National Express will deliver a new and improved service offering faster journey times, more frequent services and more seats available at peak times. All coaches will be equipped with free WiFi, power sockets and business-class legroom. An enhanced timetable, specially engineered around flight times, will further benefit customers.

At peak, coaches are timetabled to run every ten minutes, with 150 services travelling to and from the airport each day. This is equivalent to a third more seats than the outgoing operator at peak times.

National Express already carries nearly 5.5 million passengers to and from UK airports. This agreement will mean National Express now serves London Luton, Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted airports directly from central London, as well as other major UK airports including Manchester and Birmingham.

North American Transit win

National Express' North American Transit business, National Express Transit, has also been selected to provide operations and maintenance for Solano County Transit ("SolTrans"), located in Vallejo, California. 

This contract is worth $8 million of revenue in the first year, and is for an initial five year term with an option to extend by up to two years. Overall the contract has potential total revenue of $60 million.

The contract is significant as it is National Express Transit's first in the important Californian market. The contract also encompasses all forms of transit - local fixed route, regional commuter express bus service, paratransit and General Public Dial-a-Ride - as well as customer service and vehicle and facility maintenance functions throughout the cities of Vallejo, Benicia and Fairfield, California.

The contract was awarded after a competition that judged both the operator's bidding price and service quality proposition. In around a year National Express has built up a transit business with more than $75 million of annualized revenue. This win provides another platform for further growth in a market where we have an identified pipeline of $300 million of capital-light opportunities.

Dean Finch, Group Chief Executive of National Express said: "These announcements demonstrate the international appeal of our market-leading and value-for-money services. Within a year our North American transit business has emerged as an important new player in the market. This significant new agreement with London Luton Airport further consolidates our position as the UK's coach market leader. These wins are further proof of the exciting pipeline of value-generating, new business opportunities we have developed."

Notes to Editors

About National Express Group: More than 650m journeys a year are made worldwide on our bus, train, light rail and express coach operations. We deliver services in the UK, North America, Spain and Morocco. Our 40,000 employees are committed to improve the quality of life for all through travel.

Enquiries:

National Express Group PLC
Stuart Morgan, Head of Investor Relations Anthony Vigor, Director of Policy and External Affairs	0121 460 8658 07767 425 822
Maitland
Neil Bennett Rebecca Mitchell	020 7379 5151

 

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