All FirstGroup articles
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Rail Business UK‘We grow, they grow’: FirstGroup sets out open access rail aims
Following FirstGroup’s announcement that it is to order more trains to support its growth drive in the open access market, First Rail Managing Director Steve Montgomery explains the next steps to Rail Business UK.
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Rail Business UKFirstGroup orders more Hitachi trains to underpin open access growth ambitions
UK: FirstGroup is to expand its open access fleet with an order for 14 Class 80X trainsets from Hitachi Rail.
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Rail Business UKFirstGroup acquires London – South Wales open access business and plans Lumo to Devon
UK: FirstGroup has bought Grand Union Trains GWML Holdings Ltd, which holds track access rights to launch an open access passenger service between London and Carmarthen.
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Rail Business UKRail industry responds to confirmation that SWR, c2c and Greater Anglia will transfer to the public sector in 2025
UK: The government has confirmed the timescales for the first three train operators to transfer to the public sector following royal assent to the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024 which provides the legal framework. On December 4 the Department for Transport confirmed that South ...
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Rail Business UKA whole-industry approach is needed to get young people to use trains for life
UK: Young people want to travel more by rail, but train operators need to provide reliable services, value for money and consistent amenities if they are to attract the next generation of travellers and retain them as customers for the next 20 years, First Rail Managing ...
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Rail Business UKInterview: ‘Open access works in Europe and it works here’
UK: Martijn Gilbert, head of FirstGroup’s Lumo and Hull Trains businesses, says the open access model is a proven success, and makes the case for further expansion whatever rail reforms may lie ahead.
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Rail Business UKFirstGroup’s Lumo seeks to launch Rochdale – London open access service
UK: FirstGroup has applied to operate Rochdale – London open access passenger trains, more than 20 years after a short-lived through service ran between the two destinations. On May 17 FirstGroup said that it had applied to the Office of Rail & Road to launch six ...
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Rail Business UKTrain operator’s apprenticeship scheme goes beyond day-to-day roles
UK: ‘We want to continuously ensure that as many local people as possible have the opportunity to join the rail industry, regardless of their previous skill set or background’, Lumo Managing Director Martijn Gilbert said when he announced that 95% of the open access operator’s workforce ...
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Rail Business UKAvanti West Coast won’t be nationalised, says Minister
UK: The government will not terminate Avanti West Coast’s operating contract, Rail Minister Huw Merriman has told the House of Commons. At Transport Questions on March 21, Labour’s Shadow Rail Minister Stephen Morgan asked ‘a simple question to the Minister today, will he strip Avanti of ...
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Rail Business UKFirstGroup’s open access performing ahead of expectations
UK: Trading in FirstGroup’s First Rail division has been slightly ahead of expectations due to strong performance at the open access businesses, the company said in a pre-close trading update. The announcement on March 12 covers the period since the half year results were published on ...
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Rail Business UKLumo plans to extend open access services to Glasgow
UK: Open access train operator Lumo is has announced plans to extend some of its London – Edinburgh services to Glasgow. The FirstGroup-owned company is working with Transport Scotland and infrastructure manager Network Rail to agree final route options and timings ahead of an application for ...
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Rail Business UKTokyo Metro amongst bidders for Elizabeth Line operating contract
UK: Transport for London has shortlisted four bidders for the next concession to operate services on the cross-city Elizabeth Line. They are: Arriva UK Trains; First Keolis Elizabeth Line, a joint venture of FirstGroup and Keolis; GTS Rail Operations, a joint venture of Go-Ahead Group, ...
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Rail Business UKFirstGroup plans London – Sheffield open access train service
UK: FirstGroup has announced plans to launch an open access passenger train service between London and Sheffield. The first phase of an application was submitted to industry regulator the Office of Rail & Road on January 5. Consultation will follow, along with discussions with Network Rail ...
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NewsOn-train connectivity rolls out
EUROPE: Following successful trials on the UK’s Island Line, FirstGroup’s railway telecoms company Evo-rail has worked with Comsa to install its Rail-5G on-train connectivity technology on the Figueres - Perpignan high speed line between Spain and France. Evo-rail said the mmWave technology which uses trackside antenna ...
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Rail Business UK‘A victory for union hard-liners’ as TransPennine Express transfer risks causing more disruption
Rail Business UK can reveal that the short-notice decision by Transport Secretary Mark Harper to bring TransPennine Express into the government’s Operator of Last Resort has stoked serious concerns about unintended consequences within the industry.
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In depthUK: Lumo takes on the airlines
In the 18 months since its launch on the London – Edinburgh route, open access operator Lumo has driven up ridership and lifted rail’s market share significantly, as FirstGroup’s Commercial & Revenue Director Stuart Jones explains to Tony Miles.
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Rail Business UKAvanti West Coast contract extended and Managing Director appointed
UK: Avanti West Coast must continue to regain the confidence of passengers before decisions on its future are made, the Department for Transport said when it announced a six-month extension of the inter-city operator’s contract. The West Coast Partnership contract covers the operation of inter-city services ...
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Rail Business UKSouth Western Railway operating contract extended
UK: The Department for Transport has exercised an option to extend South Western Railway’s National Rail Contract for a further two years. Directly-awarded NRCs are intended as an interim step between the Emergency Recovery Measures Agreements which were put in place during the pandemic, and the ...
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Rail Business UKAvanti West Coast contract extended pending decisions on the longer term
UK: The current West Coast Partnership contractual arrangements for Avanti West Coast to operate inter-city passenger services on the West Coast Main Line and act as shadow operator for High Speed 2 have been extended until the end of March 2023. The AWC joint venture of ...
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Rail Business UKAvanti West Coast Managing Director to leave
UK: Phil Whittingham is to step down as Managing Director of Avanti West Coast with effect from September 15 ‘in order to pursue other executive leadership opportunities’, the West Coast Main Line inter-city passenger operator’s parent company First Trenitalia announced on September 2. Whittingham joined Virgin ...