FirstGroup said yesterday it had retained the Transpennine Express rail franchise, which links the largest cities in the north of England and Scotland, until at least 2023.
The Aberdeen-based transport giant has operated the service alongside France’s Keolis since 2004, but will be the sole franchisee once the new agreement starts in April 2016.
The company said £500million will be spent on upgrading the service, with new rolling stock to be added, existing trains refurbished and stations developed.
It comes as a welcome boost for FirstGroup, which has lost out on several rail contracts in recent times.
Last year, FirstGroup lost out on the iconic Caledonian Sleeper service to Serco and on the ScotRail franchise to Dutch firm Abellio.
It also missed out on the East Coast mainline service and the Thameslink franchise covering London’s commuter routes.
FirstGroup chief executive Tim O’Toole said he was “delighted” the company’s “disciplined approach” to rail franchise bidding had paid off.
There are ambitious plans for the Transpennine Express franchise, which carries about 28million passengers a year.
A total of 220 new vehicles will be on the tracks by 2019, bumping up the capacity by 13million seats. The move will enable FirstGroup to raise the capacity by 80% during busiest times of the day.
All existing vehicles will be brought up to the same standard as the new rolling stock, meanwhile.
New direct services from Liverpool to Glasgow will be on offer from December 2018, as will an extra 16 services each day from Glasgow and Edinburgh to Manchester by 2019.
Some £18million will be spent on improving 19 stations across the franchise, with an upgrade to customer information systems among the plans.
FirstGroup said all trains and stations will be fitted with free Wi-Fi by 2018.
There are also plans to slash ticket prices for jobseekers and 16-18 year olds.
Furthermore, the firm said it had entered into an agreement with infrastructure owner and manager Network Rail that will see the two bodies work together to reduce delays and cancellations by 27%.
The Department for Transport has the option to extend the contract from 2023 to 2025.
UK Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: “First Trans Pennine Express Ltd will deliver exciting, ambitious plans that will make a real difference to customers, and – coupled with our commitment to push ahead with electrifying the vital TransPennine route – will help the region realise its full economic potential, ensuring it has a modern 21st century transport system.”
Commenting on the move to operate Transpennine on a sole basis, a spokesman for FirstGroup said: “The joint venture with Keolis has been a partnership which has successfully delivered passenger and revenue growth along with a number of award winning improvements for our customers. Going forwards, however, we feel it is appropriate to operate the franchise on a standalone basis. Keolis have bid elsewhere in their own right or with other partners.”