FirstGroup PLC on Monday said it extended the West Coast partnership contract with the UK Department for Transport to October.
The Aberdeen, Scotland-based transport company said the arrangements were set to expire on March 31 and have now been extended to October 15, ‘broadly’ under the same terms and conditions.
The contract comprises of the operation of Avanti West Coast and the shadow operation of the HS2 programme.
FirstGroup added that discussions are ongoing with the UK DfT regarding a longer-term National Rail contract for the West Coast partnership.
Chief Executive Officer Graham Sutherland said: ‘Performance at Avanti is steadily improving and since the introduction of the new timetable in mid-December, the number of services has increased by more than 40% compared to last summer, with more seats and better frequencies. Today’s agreement allows our team to continue their focus on delivering their robust plans to continue enhancing services for our customers, including further progress on our train upgrade and refurbishment programme.’
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