FIRSTGROUP PLC
WEST COAST PARTNERSHIP CONTRACT EXTENSION
FirstGroup plc today announces that it has agreed with the
Department for Transport (‘DfT’) to extend the current contractual
arrangements for the West Coast Partnership (‘WCP’) to the end of
March 2023. The WCP rail contract
comprises operation of Avanti West Coast and acting as shadow
operator to the HS2 programme.
WCP is currently operating under an Emergency Recovery Measures
Agreement (‘ERMA’) which was put in place by the DfT in
September 2020 to provide continuity
for rail passengers and the industry during the recovery from the
coronavirus pandemic. The ERMA arrangements for WCP were previously
set to expire on 16 October 2022 and
will now run until the end of March
2023 under broadly the same terms and conditions.
Discussions are ongoing with DfT regarding the longer-term National
Rail Contract for WCP.
Commenting, Graham Sutherland,
FirstGroup Chief Executive Officer said:
"We are committed to working closely with government and our
partners across the industry to deliver a successful railway that
serves the needs of our customers and communities. Today’s
agreement allows our team at Avanti West Coast to sustain their
focus on delivering their robust plan to restore services to the
levels that passengers rightly expect."
Legal Entity Identifier (LEI):
549300DEJZCPWA4HKM93. Classification as per DTR 6 Annex 1R:
3.1.
About FirstGroup
FirstGroup plc (LSE: FGP.L) is a leading private sector provider of
public transport services. With £4.6 billion in revenue and more
than 30,000 employees, our UK divisions transported nearly
1.5m passengers a day in the last
financial year. First Bus is the second largest regional bus
operator in the UK, serving two-thirds of the UK’s 15 largest
conurbations with a fleet of c.4,900 buses. First Rail is the UK’s
largest rail operator, with many years of experience running
long-distance, commuter, regional and sleeper rail services. We
operate a fleet of c.3,800 rail vehicles through four management
fee-based train operating companies (Avanti, GWR, SWR, TPE) and two
open access routes (Hull Trains and Lumo). We create solutions that
reduce complexity, making travel smoother and life easier. Our
businesses are at the heart of our communities and the essential
services we provide are critical to delivering wider economic,
social and environmental goals. We are formally committed to
operating a zero-emission First Bus fleet by 2035 and to cease
purchasing further diesel buses after 2022; and First Rail will
help support the UK Government’s goal to remove all diesel-only
trains from service by 2040. In 2022 FirstGroup was named as one of
the world's cleanest 200 public companies for the third consecutive
year by sustainable business media group Corporate Knights in
partnership with US not-for-profit organisation, As You Sow. Visit
our website at www.firstgroupplc.com and follow us @firstgroupplc
on Twitter.
Contacts at
FirstGroup:
Investor relations: Faisal Tabbah
Media: Stuart Butchers
corporate.comms@firstgroup.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7725 3354 |
Contacts at
Brunswick PR:
Andrew Porter / Simone Selzer
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7404 5959 |