30/06/2006

Stagecoach Group today (30 June 2006) submitted its bid for the new South Western rail franchise with a commitment to customers and the Government to deliver high quality, innovative and value-for-money services.

The Group is the current operator of both the South West Trains and Island Line franchises, which have been brought together to form the new South Western franchise.

Stagecoach’s bid for the new franchise has been developed following extensive consultation with more than 100 local, regional and national stakeholder groups.

Ian Dobbs, Chief Executive of Stagecoach Group’s Rail Division, said: “Over the past 10 years, we have delivered record investment in new trains, consistently high operational performance, increasing levels of customer satisfaction, as well as innovation with new ideas such as our budget train service megatrain.com.

“The South Western franchise is Britain’s most important railway economically and we have developed bold plans that will unlock the full potential of the network, manage passenger growth efficiently, and continuously improve performance.

“Stagecoach is excited by the huge opportunity provided by the new 10-year franchise to further improve services for existing customers and attract new passengers to rail travel.

“Our plans are forward-looking, innovative and represent outstanding value for money. Most importantly, they can be delivered.

“We firmly believe we can build on our success to make rail travel in the region even better and we look forward to discussing our plans in detail with the Department for Transport.”

Stagecoach Group is bidding as Stagecoach South Western Trains Limited.

ENDS

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NOTES TO EDITORS

Stagecoach Group is a leading international transport company with extensive bus and rail operations in the UK and North America.

Stagecoach operates South West Trains, the UK's biggest commuter rail franchise, which runs 1600 trains a day in the south-west of England out of London Waterloo. The Group also runs Island Line, the country’s smallest rail franchise. In addition, Stagecoach has a 49% shareholding in Virgin Rail Group, which operates the CrossCountry and West Coast inter-city rail franchises.

The South Western franchise combines two existing franchises: South West Trains and Island Line. It includes services from London Waterloo to Woking, Basingstoke, Southampton, Portsmouth, Exeter and Reading. Bournemouth, Weymouth, Guildford and Salisbury are also served, with the Island Line operating between Ryde and Shanklin on the Isle of Wight.

The new 10-year franchise will run from 4 February 2007, with the last three years conditional upon preset performance criteria being met.