10th Oct 2014 08:43
LONDON (Alliance News) - FirstGroup PLC said Friday that the UK Department of Transport has confirmed it plans to negotiate a direct award for its First Great Western franchise for a duration of three and a half years to March 2019, with a potential further extension of up to a year.
FirstGroup says this award will ensure stability during a period when "a substantial programme of infrastructure upgrades will take place on the network and new trains are to be introduced."
The news comes after FirstGroup lost out on the new ScotRail franchise on Tuesday, although at that time it stressed that the loss would not alter its medium-term targets.
First Great Western is the transport operator's largest franchise.
Shares in FirstGroup are trading down 0.4% at 107.84 pence Friday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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