Arriva Welcomes Shortlisting for Great Western Rail Franchise

SUNDERLAND, England, March 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Arriva today welcomed the naming of its G.W. Trains Ltd as one of the shortlisted companies announced today by the Department for Transport to have pre-qualified to bid for the Great Western rail franchise.

Arriva UK Trains managing director Bob Holland said: "Arriva's pre-qualification to bid for the Great Western franchise is great news. The longer 15-year franchise period gives an opportunity to innovate and invest to provide quality services for passengers, deliver value for the Government, and draw on the experience across our UK railway operations. We're looking forward to working with the Department for Transport through the next stages of the bidding process."

The Invitation to Tender for the Great Western franchise is expected to be issued to shortlisted bidders in May 2012, with an announcement of the winning bid anticipated in December 2012. The new successful bidder would take on running of the Great Western franchise from April 2013.

Arriva's UK Trains division currently operates the Chiltern Railway, CrossCountry and Arriva Trains Wales franchises and owns the Grand Central open access rail operation. It also operates the Tyne and Wear Metro concession and the London Overground concession through its LOROL joint venture with MTR.

Notes to editors

• Arriva is one of the largest providers of passenger transport in Europe, employing some 47,500 people and delivering more than 1.5 billion passenger journeys every year.

• We provide transport services including buses, trains, commuter coaches and waterbuses, and operate in 12 European countries: Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

• Arriva is part of Deutsche Bahn, one of the world's leading passenger transport and logistics service providers. Headquartered in Sunderland, UK, Arriva is responsible for Deutsche Bahn's regional passenger transport services outside Germany.

• DB UK Investments Ltd is the holding company for Arriva's operations in the UK.

Contact: Group communications, Arriva plc on +44(0)191-520-4106. For media enquiries outside of normal office hours, we can be contacted on our 24-hour media pager service on +44(0)7623-920-615.

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