National Express begins operating first German rail services
National Express Group PLC ("National Express") has begun operating services on its first two German rail contracts, on the Rhine Munster Express route. The two lines serve the North Rhine-Westphalia region, including the important commuter cities of Cologne and Bonn:
· The RE 7 regional express line serves Krefeld - Cologne - Wuppertal - Hagen - Hamm - Munster - Rheine
· The RB 48 line serves Bonn-Cologne-Wuppertal.
National Express launched with 34 new Talent 2 electric trains built by Bombardier. The new trains were procured by National Express on behalf of the local authorities.
National Express won the two contracts in February 2013. The contracts are for 15 years and will generate revenues of around €1.6 billion across the period.
National Express took over operation of the contracts at midnight on Sunday 13 December from previous operator Deutsche Bahn. National Express will carry an estimated 18 million passengers per year.
Dean Finch, National Express Group Chief Executive, said: "Germany is Europe's largest rail market and is an important part of our strategy. I am delighted that after significant planning and preparation we have started running services. We will be implementing our approach and success in running the UK's best performing franchise, c2c, in Germany. National Express' aim is to deliver a better, more frequent and reliable service to RME passengers with brand new, modern trains.
"The German rail market presents significant further opportunity for National Express. We are working on the start-up of our next two German rail contracts on the Rhine-Ruhr Express. These bring our already secured revenues from German rail to €2.6 billion. We await the outcome of the appeal on the €1.4 billion Nuremberg S-Bahn contract, have recently submitted a bid for another German rail contract and see an active pipeline of attractive opportunities throughout 2016."
Enquiries
National Express Group PLC
Anthony Vigor, Director of Policy and External Affairs 07767 603386
Louise Richardson, Investor Relations Manager 07827 807766
Maitland
Rebecca Mitchell 07951 057351
Notes
The contracts were let by three local authorities: Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (Dusseldorf area); Nahverkehr Westfalen-Lippe (Rheine and Munster area); and Nahverkehr Rheinland (Cologne and Bonn area). The process was led by the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr authority.
National Express Group PLC ("National Express" or the "Group"), is a leading international public transport group, operating bus, coach, rail and tram services across the UK, continental Europe, North Africa, North America and Bahrain.
