Statement re: Shorlisting for two rail competitions

FIRSTGROUP PLC (`FirstGroup' or `the Group') Statement re: SHORTLISTING FOR TWO RAIL COMPETITIONS FirstGroup has been shortlisted for the Caledonian Sleeper franchisecompetition by the Scottish Government. The Group currently operates theCaledonian Sleeper - which connects Inverness, Fort William, Aberdeen,Edinburgh and Glasgow to London - as part of the First ScotRail franchise. Thenew 15 year sleeper franchise will be awarded next year and is expected tostart in April 2015. The Group has also been shortlisted to tender for Luas, the light rail networkin Dublin, by the Railway Procurement Agency. The successful operator willcommence running services on the Luas Red and Green lines in September 2014 andwill also be responsible for operating the new Luas Cross City line when itcomes into service. Commenting, Vernon Barker, FirstGroup's Managing Director, UK Rail said: "We are delighted to have been shortlisted for these two competitions. "We are the UK's only operator of sleeper trains and have strong expertise inScotland as the current operators of First ScotRail, which is carrying morepassengers than ever before whilst seeing record high customer satisfactionscores. First ScotRail is also the current Scottish Public Transport Operatorof the Year. "In light rail, we already operate the Tramlink network, which we run on behalfof Transport for London and which enjoys the best performance and customersatisfaction levels of any of TfL's services. "We look forward to building on these positions and submitting competitiveproposals which meet the needs of customers and taxpayers for bothcompetitions." Further information, FirstGroup:Stuart Butchers, Group Corporate Communications ManagerTel: +44 7713 317979 / 020 7291 0507