Strong year for train franchise London Midland

TRAIN franchise London Midland has enjoyed a strong year with passenger revenue up 13%.

Passenger numbers were also up by almost 6% as the operation made a sizeable contribution to the fortunes of parent company, the Go-Ahead Group.

In total, revenue was £330m for the full year to July 2, 2016, compared with £3291.8m in 2015.

Meanwhile, passenger numbers increased by 5.9% (2015: 2.1%) on a like for like basis.

“London Midland’s trading performance improved in the second half of the year,” said Go-Ahead in its full-year results statement.

“The franchise entered into a directly awarded contract on April 1, 2016 and in the period to the year-end passenger journeys and revenues exceeded bid expectations.”

The parent group has extra reason to be optimistic because it has also been shortlisted to rebid for the new West Midland franchise, due to begin in October next year.

“We look forward to submitting a strong bid,” it added.

London Midland was also successful in securing a direct award contract and achieved a strong customer satisfaction score of 86%.

The group’s three rail franchises – GTR, Southeastern and London Midland – carry about a third of all passengers in the UK.

“Our rail division has delivered a robust financial performance, with strong results in Southeastern and London Midland offsetting weakness in GTR,” said group chief executive David Brown.

“Whilst we were disappointed that our bids for the new Trans-Pennine Express and Northern Rail franchises were unsuccessful, the board still believes that the UK rail sector can provide long term growth opportunities for the group. The UK rail industry clearly has some considerable challenges, both financial and operational. We are an established operator and will be seeking to develop our role in the future of the sector.”