SNCF partners with Virgin Trains for high speed rail bid in the UK

The French based global high speed operator collaborates with the Scottish international transport group Stagecoach and its british subsidiary Virgin Trains to win West Coast Partnership rail franchise competition.

The West Coast Partnership rail franchise aims to combine the InterCity West Coast services with the development and introduction of the new High Speed 2 line services.

Virgin Trains already works along with Stagecoach to operate the East Coast and West Coast inter-city routes. Both companies are now joining forces with SNCF for the West Coast Partnership franchise competition.

Martin Griffiths, Chief Executive of Stagecoach Group, said: "This creates a powerful world-class partnership, bringing together the team which has transformed inter-city rail travel in the UK with the most recognized and capable high speed operator in Europe.

The shareholding for the bid consists of 50% to Stagecoach, 30% to SNCF and 20% to Virgin.

Guillaume Pepy, Chairman and CEO of SNCF said: “This is a very exciting development for SNCF. We are world leaders in high speed rail. We appreciate Stagecoach’s widespread expertise across a variety of transport modes and Virgin’s reputation for its renowned customer experience. In partnership, we will deliver a successful HS2 service for the UK.”

The companies submitted on April 24, the first stage of the bid, ‘expression of interest. They are now working on the ‘invitation to Tender’ which is to be delivered by the end of 2017.

The West Coast Partnership franchise is to run from 2019, the first few years being for operation of HS2.