6th Jun 2007 12:34
National Express Group PLC06 June 2007 National Express Group PLC Submission of bid for Inter City East Coast franchise National Express Group ("the Group") has today submitted its bid to theDepartment for Transport ("DfT") to run the prestigious Inter City East Coastrail franchise. Commenting on the submission, Richard Bowker, Chief Executive, National ExpressGroup said: "We are delighted to submit our bid for this prestigious franchise,the culmination of over six months' work. In preparing our submission, the bidteam has undertaken extensive customer research, stakeholder consultation andfinancial analysis. We also encouraged stakeholders along the route to tell uswhat they want from the franchise through our www.youreastcoast.co.uk website.It received more than 16,000 visits from a wide range of audiences includinglocal authorities, MPs, MSPs, business, tourism and transport organisations.Throughout the consultation process, we have been impressed by the passion thatthe people and communities served by the East Coast services have for their railservices. "We have extensive experience of operating railways. Not only do we runBritain's best performing inter city train operation, Midland Mainline, but, asconfirmed by the rail industry National Passenger Rail Survey releasedyesterday, Midland Mainline continues to be top for overall customersatisfaction amongst long distance train operators. "We look forward to the next stage of the bid. We believe we can deliver a trulyworld class railway for the East Coast." Feedback on the ICEC bid is expected over the summer with the new franchisecommencing 9th December 2007. - ENDS - For further information, please contact: Nicola Marsden/Alison FlynnNational Express Group PLC 020 7529 2000 Notes to Editors: • National Express Group PLC is one of the largest operator of train franchises in the UK with six rail franchises; c2c, Central Trains, Gatwick Express, Midland Mainline, 'one' including Stansted Express and Silverlink. The Trains Division has a revenue of £1,497.2m and employs 10,000 people. • National Express Group has recently submitted bids for the new East Midlands and Cross Country franchises. These two new franchises, which have been remapped from the existing Cross Country, Midland Mainline and Central Trains franchises, will be awarded by the Department for Transport in the summer and are scheduled to commence in November 2007. • Full results of the Spring 2007 wave of the National Passenger Survey are available to download from: www.passengerfocus.org.uk/nps This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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