Statement re:
Shortlisting for West Coast Partnership rail franchise
competition
First Trenitalia West Coast Rail Limited, the partnership
between FirstGroup plc (‘FirstGroup’) and Trenitalia UK Limited
(‘Trenitalia’), has today been shortlisted by the Department for
Transport for the West Coast Partnership.
Commenting, Steve Montgomery,
First Rail Managing Director said:
"FirstGroup, with our partner Trenitalia, will bid for the
upcoming West Coast Partnership. We are well positioned with our
partner to develop a completely new customer proposition both on
the West Coast route, and, through the exciting opportunity this
franchise offers, to design and run initial services on the HS2
network.
“We have a strong track record in delivering continued
modernisation and investment, alongside industry partners, through
our rail operating companies Great Western Railway, TransPennine
Express and Rail Operator of the Year, Hull Trains. In August, we
will begin operating the South Western rail franchise where we will
deliver £1.2bn of investment and improve the experience for
customers, with better trains, more seats and quicker journeys.
“Our partner Trenitalia is one of Europe’s top railway
operators, and manages long haul services, both on high speed and
conventional lines, as well as regional and metropolitan services.
That complements our expertise in running long distance services
such as those found on the West Coast routes.”
Commenting, Barbara Morgante, CEO
of Trenitalia, said:
“Trenitalia will bring FS Italiane Group’s industry-leading high
speed rail knowledge to the West Coast Partnership. Since our
acquisition of the c2c franchise, we have overseen a significant
improvement in the network’s performance and we are now looking
forward to bringing this experience to the wider UK market.
“We believe that the UK rail market provides an excellent
opportunity for the group to leverage its experience accrued in the
highly competitive Italian market.
“Together with FirstGroup, we will focus on the customer
experience and look forward to developing innovative proposals
through which West Coast and HS2 passengers will be able to realise
the most benefit from our services.”
Notes
1. First Rail Holdings (‘FRH’) and Trenitalia UK
have entered into an agreement governing First Trenitalia West
Coast Rail Limited to participate in the West Coast Partnership
franchise competition, which amongst other terms provides that, in
the event of a default by either shareholder, the other shareholder
will have the right to acquire the defaulting shareholder's shares
for fair value, such amount not being subject to any cap. As a
consequence, and by application of Chapter 10 of the Listing Rules
(in particular paragraph 5R (3A) of Annex 1 to Chapter 10), the
Group is required to comply with Listing Rule 10.4.1. In compliance
with that obligation, the Group provides the following information:
under the terms of the partnership FRH holds 70% of the equity in
First Trenitalia West Coast Rail Limited and Trenitalia UK holds
the remaining 30%, with Trenitalia UK acquiring its shares from FRH
for an aggregate consideration of £30, which has been satisfied
from Trenitalia UK's existing financial resources. First Trenitalia
West Coast Rail Limited has no trading history and has gross assets
of £100.
2. Both FirstGroup and Trenitalia hold
'Pre-Qualification Questionnaire Passports' with DfT Rail Executive
which shows that they have satisfied basic financial and other
competence criteria and allows them to submit franchise bids to
Government. In December 2015,
Trenitalia became the first new entrant to be awarded a PQQ
Passport by the Department for Transport and since then is pursuing
a number of franchise opportunities.
FirstGroup plc (LSE: FGP.L) FirstGroup plc is a leading
transport operator in the UK and North
America. With £5.7 billion in revenue and more than 100,000
employees, we transported around two billion passengers last year.
Each of our five divisions is a leader in its field: In North
America, First Student is the largest provider of student
transportation with a fleet of around 44,000 yellow school buses,
First Transit is one of the largest providers of outsourced transit
management and contracting services, while Greyhound is the only
nationwide operator of scheduled intercity coaches. In the UK,
First Bus is one of Britain's
largest bus operators, transporting 1.6 million passengers a day,
and we are one of the country's most experienced rail operators,
carrying around 130 million passengers last year. Our vision is to
provide solutions for an increasingly congested world... keeping
people moving and communities prospering.
Trenitalia is the passenger rail transportation company
part of FS Italiane Group, a major industrial player with an
increasing international presence and operating
revenues of over 5 billion euros. FS
Group runs 8,000 trains a day, serving 600 million passengers and
carrying 50 million tons of freight a year, over a network
exceeding 16,700 kilometres. The group’s objective is to develop a
large-scale mobility and logistics project capable of contributing
to the country’s economic growth. The holding company, FS Italiane,
controls companies active in specific core businesses – all of
which, in terms of safety levels and technological standards, are
European leaders. Trenitalia, the group’s rail transportation
company, is one of Europe’s top railway operators, and manages
passenger transport with its long haul connections, both on high
speed (Frecciarossa) and conventional lines, as well as
regional and metropolitan services. On February 13th 2017 Trenitalia completed the
acquisition of the c2c franchise from National Express. Other
companies belonging to the FS Italiane Group include RFI,
Busitalia, Italferr, Mercitalia, Ferservizi, Italcertifer,
Centostazioni, GS Rail, FS Sistemi Urbani, Netinera Deutschland, TX
Logistik and Thello.
Contacts at FirstGroup:
Faisal Tabbah, Head of Investor
Relations, +44 (0) 20 7725 3354
Stuart Butchers, Group Head of Media, +44 (0) 7713 317979
Corporate.comms@firstgroup.com
Contacts at Brunswick PR:
Michael Harrison / Andrew Porter, Tel: +44 (0) 20 7404 5959
Contacts at Trenitalia UK:
Giovanni Sanfelice di Monteforte,
Tancredi, 07775 858152