Go-Ahead shortlisted to bid for South Eastern franchise

The Go-Ahead Group plc is pleased to announce that Govia, its joint venture with Keolis (Go-Ahead 65%, Keolis 35%), has been shortlisted by the Department for Transport to bid for the South Eastern franchise.

Govia will be aiming to retain the franchise that it has operated, as Southeastern, since 2006. Over this time, Southeastern passenger numbers have grown by 40% and some 500 additional weekday services have been added.

In 2009 Southeastern introduced the UK’s first domestic high speed service, significantly reducing journey times to London and supporting the economic regeneration of the region. The company also played a key role in the success of the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games’ transport plan, carrying 20% more passengers than usual.

Since the start of the franchise, £120m of partnership funding has been invested in station improvements and Govia has introduced a range of other passenger service improvements such as 24-hour customer service and social media updates, smartcard ticketing, and, since 2014, an additional 300 customer-facing employees.

Southeastern is a major partner in the Thameslink infrastructure programme and during the rebuild of London Bridge station has been operating the same number of a services on 50% less track capacity.