The Ticket Collector

Qualified Bidders for GNER. As Predicted

THE DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT today announced the parties that have qualified as Bidders for the Intercity East Coast (ICEC) franchise. They are:

• Arriva Trains East Coast Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Arriva Trains Limited. The ultimate parent company is Arriva plc

• First London, Scottish and North East Railways Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of First Rail Holdings Ltd. The ultimate parent company is FirstGroup plc

• inter city - railways Limited, a 50/50 joint venture between Stagecoach plc and Virgin Group of Companies

• NXEC Trains Limited, wholly owned subsidiary of National Express Group plc

DfT issued an advertisement in December 2006 inviting Expressions of Interest in the franchise. Short listed bidders will be asked to bid against a specification based on DfT proposals and the responses to a recent public consultation which closed on 15th February 2007.

The winner of the competition will be announced in Summer 2007 and it is anticipated that the new ICEC franchise will be in place in late Autumn 2007. The term of the new franchise is a maximum of 7 years and 5 months, the last 17 months being dependent on the franchisee achieving performance targets.