National Express Group PLC, the leading international passenger transport company today welcomes the receipt of the Invitation to Tender (ITT) for the Greater Anglia Franchise from the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) which marks the start of the bidding process.

National Express Group is confident that its experience of running a full range of passenger rail services across the United Kingdom will help it to deliver a powerful case for being awarded the new rail franchise for Greater Anglia, its Chief Executive Phil White said today.

Commenting further, Mr White said:

"We have consistently demonstrated our ability to operate in discrete geographical areas by managing a complex mixture of inter-city, commuter, cross-country and local services, combining business, commuter and leisure travel requirements.

”We already have strong roots in East Anglia and as the single largest operator of train franchises across the UK, we are passionate about applying the lessons we have learned from our other train operations to this important and very varied region - lessons about combining franchises, revitalising tired lines, being customer-focused, developing industry-leading solutions, and sharing best practice across our franchises.”

The Group’s passenger train franchises all operate under their own brands with strong local identities reflecting the needs of the communities which they serve. Midland Mainline runs an efficient inter-city service between Sheffield, the East Midlands and London, and also operates at major stations such as Sheffield, Derby, and Leicester. The Londonlines group, c2c, Silverlink and Wagn, has shown how heavily used commuter lines can be radically transformed. Birmingham-based Central Trains runs local rail services throughout the East and West Midlands, plus long distance services from the Midlands to South Wales the North West of England, East Anglia and the East Coast. ScotRail provides rail transport for the business, commuter, leisure and tourist markets throughout Scotland and Wales & Borders and Wessex are successful regional networks.

We are pleased to be starting the next stage of the process and look forward to submitting our bid to the SRA in September said Mr White.

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Notes to Editors:

1. National Express Group is a leading international passenger transport company and is the largest operator of train franchises in the UK. It is also a major operator of bus, tram and scheduled express coach networks.


2. NX operates c2c, Central Trains, Gatwick Express, Midland Mainline, ScotRail, Silverlink, Wagn including Stansted Express, Wales and Borders, and Wessex.


3. An important element of the Group’s business philosophy is to attract more customers onto its services and to maximise the use of public transport systems to bring about environmental and social benefits to the communities which it serves.


4. It was confirmed on 1 April that the Group was one of the three pre-qualified bidders for the new Greater Anglia Franchise. This will combine the existing Anglia and Great Eastern franchises, and the West Anglia (Liverpool Street) services from the WAGN franchise (including Stansted Express). Current franchises are due to expire on 31 March 2004.


5. The Group has also been shortlisted for the renewal of the ScotRail franchises and on the 7 April submitted its Best and Final Offer for the Wales & Borders franchise.

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