National Express confirms German contract wins
BIRMINGHAM-based public transport group, National Express has contracts to operate two rail services in Germany. The contacts could be worth £720m (€1bn) over their duration.
The group has been selected by local transport authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia to operate two of the three Rhine-Ruhr Express (RRX) services which operate between cities including Cologne, Dusseldorf and Dortmund, in Germany’s most populous region. There is scope for the National Express services to carry approximately 30 million passengers a year.
The first of the contracts starts in December 2018 and the second in December 2020. Both will run until December 2033.
These RRX services serve the same region and some of the same cities as the two contracts that National Express will begin operating in December this year.
Dean Finch, National Express Group Chief Executive, had said earlier this month (June) that the new routes would strengthen the co0mpany’s presence in Germany, especially in the North Rhine-Westphalia region.
He said the local teams were focused on delivering excellent services for passengers, a fair deal for local taxpayers and good returns for shareholders.
National Express, which operates bus, coach, rail and tram services across the UK, continental Europe, North Africa, North America and Bahrain, is the operator of the UK’s best performing rail franchise, c2c.
