Overseas operations helping to support expansion for National Express

BIRMINGHAM-based public transport group, National Express, has said it will continue to benefit from its strong overseas operations.

In its latest interims, the group said the successful mobilisation of its bus service operations in Bahrain – its first entry into the Middle East – offered many prospects for the future.

The company intends using the Bahrain operation as a springboard to seek further business in the region. The strategy is already being utilised to bid for a contract to run bus operations in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.

The company said it had had to set aside funds to challenge for the bid but if successful, then the contract would yield good results.

Elsewhere, the firm said it continued to see progress in Spain where its bus services competing with regional rail routes had seen passenger growth of 7%, together with revenue up 4%.

The company has also won a fourth Moroccan bus contract.

The group also saw further success in the German rail market with the award of two contracts for Rhine Ruhr Express services. The contracted revenues secured could be worth €2.6bn to the group.

Dean Finch, chief executive, National Express, said: “The success in winning additional German rail contracts and the launch of bus services in Bahrain demonstrates further progress in opening new growth markets.”

Closer to home, the company said it remained hopeful for its bid to operate the East Anglia rail franchise, where it has been shortlisted as one of the potential operators. The contract is due to be awarded in mid-2016, and will commence in autumn 2016.

It has also welcomed the West Midlands transport authority’s decision to establish a new ‘Bus Alliance’ to build on its existing services in the region.

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