Southeastern Franchise

Press Release

18 March 2011

The Go-Ahead Group plc

("Go-Ahead" or the "Group")

Southeastern Franchise to run to 2014

Under the terms of the Integrated Kent Franchise Agreement, Govia (65% Go-Ahead/35% Keolis) has accepted continuation of the 'Southeastern' rail franchise.

The Department of Transport formally offered the continuation after Southeastern met performance criteria set out in the franchise agreement. The franchise will now run to 31 March 2014.

Keith Ludeman, Group Chief Executive of Go-Ahead and Chairman of Govia, said:

"We are pleased that this important franchise, which carries over a 160 million passengers a year, will run to 2014.

"In the first five years of this franchise Southeastern has increased the number of train services operated across the region and customer satisfaction has risen. It has successfully introduced the UK's first domestic high speed service and independent research shows that passengers using this service are the most satisfied in the UK. More than £10m has been invested in employee training and development, £40m on improvements at stations and £174m on new high speed trains for the region.

"Our focus will be on continuing to further improve punctuality and reliability of our services for passengers. In the past four weeks Southeastern has delivered in excess of 90% punctuality across the network. Southeastern is committed to increasing customer satisfaction, particularly through ensuring more effective passenger communication - especially in times of disruption. This continuation will allow us to further invest and improve performance."

We are pleased to announce that from the summer this year Southeastern will move to the 'delay repay' compensation scheme, meaning that any passengers delayed by 30 minutes or more can claim compensation. This brings it into line with our other rail franchises. This is an arrangement that will be welcomed by passengers and rail user groups. Also, from 23 May 2011, Southeastern will be introducing a new high speed service for Maidstone, which we believe will be welcomed by passengers and local stakeholders in Kent's County Town.

For further information, please contact:

Notes to Editors

1. The criteria that had to be met in order for an offer to be made included meeting Target Performance Levels for Capacity, Service Delivery and Cancellations.

2. Southeastern runs train services into London from Kent and East Sussex, operating some 1,800 trains a day, carrying more than 400,000 passengers a day, serving 176 stations and covering 480-miles of railway infrastructure.

3. The latest Independent Passenger Survey showed customer satisfaction overall on Southeastern services to be 80%. Satisfaction on Southeastern High Speed services was 94%.

4. Southeastern is operated by Govia, a joint venture between the Go-Ahead Group (65 per cent) and Keolis (35 per cent).

5. "Southeastern" is the trading name of 'London and Southeastern Railway Ltd'.

6. The introduction of Delay Repay will be subject to a consultation. We expect the scheme to be implemented from 1 July 2011.

about Go-Ahead

Go-Ahead is a leading UK public transport operator, providing high quality services in the bus and rail sectors. Employing around 22,000 people across the country, over one billion passenger journeys are undertaken on our services each year. We are committed to operating our companies in a safe, socially and environmentally responsible way and are proud to have been awarded the Carbon Trust Standard after taking action on climate change. In addition to the travelling public, our customers include the Department for Transport, Transport for London (TfL) and local authorities.

BUS

Go-Ahead is one of the UK's largest bus operators. With a fleet of around 3,800 buses, we carry, on average, around 1.7 million passengers every day. Our operations are focused on high density commuter markets. We have a strong presence in London, with around 21% market share, where we provide regulated services for TfL. We operate deregulated services in the Oxford, the South East, Southern and North East England. We also have a yellow school bus joint venture in North America.

RAIL

The rail operation, Govia, is 65% owned by Go-Ahead and 35% by Keolis. It is the busiest rail operation in the UK, responsible for nearly 30% of all UK passenger rail journeys through its three rail franchises: Southern (which includes the Gatwick Express), Southeastern and London Midland. In December 2009, Southeastern began operating the UK's first high speed domestic rail service between Kent and London, significantly reducing journey times.