Firstgroup Regulatory News (FGP)

FIRSTGROUP PLC - Statement re South Western rail franchise competition

PR Newswire

London, June 16

FIRSTGROUP PLC (‘the Group) 

Statement re: South Western rail franchise competition

FirstGroup is pleased to announce that MTR Corporation (UK) will join the Group in a joint venture to bid for the South Western rail franchise, following the assent of the Department for Transport.

Commenting, Steve Montgomery, First Rail Managing Director said:

"We are pleased that we will be partnering with MTR in a joint venture to bid for the South Western rail franchise, for which we were shortlisted in February 2016. We have extensive expertise 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. MTR run successful suburban and commuter railways; their knowledge from running London Overground and TfL Rail on behalf of Transport for London will add further depth and understanding to an important component of this franchise.

"Together, FirstGroup and MTR will develop an innovative and value for money proposal that will deliver better connectivity and significant improvements for South Western customers. Our bid will keep people moving and communities prospering across the region."

Notes

1. MTR Corporation (UK) will take a 30% stake in the joint venture

2. Both FirstGroup and MTR hold 'Pre-Qualification Questionnaire Passports' with the Department for Transport which shows that they have satisfied basic financial and other competence criteria and allows them to Express an Interest in submitting franchise bids to Government

3. MTR run the current London Overground concession in a joint venture with Arriva. This operation serves Clapham Junction, the busiest station on the network and a key hub for the South Western franchise. In addition, they have been selected as the operator of the new Crossrail/Elizabeth Line service and run TfL Rail services from London Liverpool Street station.

FirstGroup plc (LSE: FGP.L) is the leading transport operator in the UK and North America. With £5.2 billion in revenues and 110,000 employees, we transported around 2.2 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 47,000 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 6,200 buses, and we are one of the country's most experienced passenger rail operators, carrying around 140 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 and follow us @firstgroupplc on Twitter.

MTR Corporation (MTR) is acknowledged as one of the world’s leading operators of metro, commuter and airport rail systems and has a successful international consulting business. It is also a property developer, and manages shopping malls, retail units, apartments and other major buildings along some of its lines. Around the world, MTR: runs metro, light rail and Airport Express services and infrastructure, develops and manages significant rail-related property and is delivering new rail lines and major upgrade projects in Hong Kong; operates lines in Beijing, Shenzhen and Hangzhou in China; is lead shareholder in a joint venture operating the Melbourne train system and leads a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) consortium which will deliver and operate the Sydney Metro Northwest in Australia.

Contacts at FirstGroup:

Faisal Tabbah, Head of Investor Relations

Stuart Butchers, Group Head of Media

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7725 3354

Contacts at Brunswick PR:

Michael Harrison / Andrew Porter, Tel: +44 (0) 20 7404 5959