Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Rail boost at last for FirstGroup

Post Thumbnail

There was cheerier news on the rail front for FirstGroup yesterday, when the transport giant heard it could be running the Great Western franchise until at least March 2019 under a UK Government extension deal.

The Aberdeen company is to enter talks with the Department of Transport (DfT) about the award of a three-and-a-half-year contract, with the possibility of an extra 12 months at the government’s discretion.

FirstGroup has just lost its ScotRail franchise, which hit has held since 2004, to Dutch rival Abellio.

It has also lost its Caledonian Sleeper services to Serco, failed in its bid to win the Essex Thameside contract and seen its Capital Connect operation in London become swallowed up as part of the larger Thameslink franchise, awarded to Govia.

The firm’s next large contract bid is for east coast intercity services from Aberdeen and Inverness to London, with an announcement due next month.

But it was the only bidder for the Great Western extension and will now begin negotiations with the DfT over the precise financial and management terms of the franchise it has run since 2006.

The DfT was reportedly keen to hang on to FirstGroup’s management as the franchise is undergoing a £7.5billion investment programme that includes network electrification and a new multi-billion pound fleet of intercity trains built by Japanese firm Hitachi.

First Great Western trains run from London Paddington to south Wales and the south-west of England, and cover key commuter routes into the capital from Oxford, Newbury and Reading. The current franchise was due to run out in September.

The operation is a key asset for FirstGroup, accounting for about one-third of the rail division’s £2.9billion revenues, or 15% of total annual group sales.

FirstGroup chief executive Tim O’Toole said keeping it for longer offered good value and better services for passengers, while giving stability and paving the way for major projects and new trains.

Analysts at banking giant HSBC recently underlined the importance of winning bids for FirstGroup because paying off its debts, which stood at £1.3billion in May, “will be painfully slow unless the group can win rail franchises.”