16th Sep 2015 06:10
LONDON (Alliance News) - The UK's Department for Transport on Wednesday said Stagecoach Group PLC's East Midlands Trains unit has had its contract to run the East Midlands franchise renewed.
East Midlands Trains will run the service, which covers London, the East Midlands and parts of the North of England, through to March 2018 and will deliver a number of improvements, including extra services between Nottingham and Newark Castle, timetable improvements and a freeze on Anytime fares to London, which will remain at the same price until 2017.
East Midlands Trains also will upgrade the on-board WiFi services on trains from London, with the aim to make this free to all passengers once the next fully-completed franchise starts from 2018.
"This is a significant package of investment for customers travelling on East Midlands Trains, Britain's most punctual long-distance train operator. It will build on what our team has achieved over the past eight years and deliver further valuable improvements for the millions of passengers and many communities who rely on the East Midlands Trains network," said Stagecoach Chief Executive Martin Griffiths.
Stagecoach will pay the UK government GBP150.0 million to run the franchise through to 2018.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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