FirstGroup : and MTR order £895m new trains for South Western rail franchise

20 Jun 2017

Much needed extra seats for suburban rail services into London Waterloo moved a step closer today as new South Western franchise operators FirstGroup and MTR signed an order for 90 new trains (750 new carriages, in five and 10 car formations).

The £895m fleet of 'AVENTRA' trains, providing a 46% increase in peak capacity on the suburban routes into Waterloo, will be manufactured by Bombardier Transportation in Derby. The new trains will enhance the travelling experience for customers with free reliable Wi-Fi, at-seat charging points, real time information screens, air conditioning, wide gangways and wide doors to improve ease of boarding and alighting. The new trains will start to come into service from mid 2019 and will all be in place by December 2020.

The new trains will operate on the Windsor, Reading and West London suburban routes. The fleet will be maintained at Wimbledon depot, with South Western franchise employees undertaking the maintenance, supported by Bombardier employees who will supply technical advice and spares.

FirstGroup and MTR included the plans for these new trains as part of their winning bid for the South Western rail network, with the new franchise due to start on 20 August this year. They will be capable of 100mph, be highly energy efficient and will contribute to reduced journey times.

Funding for the trains has been led by sponsor Rock Rail and partners SL Capital (part of Standard Life Investments) and GLIL Infrastructure LLP, who all provided the equity investment. The senior debt is provided by a consortium of UK, European and North American institutional investors. The trains will be leased to the new South Western rail franchise.

Transport Minister Paul Maynard said: 'We are delivering the biggest rail modernisation programme for over a century and this franchise will provide more frequent trains, faster journeys and a more reliable service that passengers across the South Western network expect.

'This multi-million pound investment in a new fleet of British-built trains is excellent news for South Western passengers and the British economy. This investment reflects our commitment, and that of train operators, to put passengers at the heart of everything we do, and will improve journeys and target congestion.'

Steve Montgomery, Managing Director, First Rail said: 'We have exciting plans for the South Western rail franchise and these new trains are an important step on the way to delivering an improved journey experience for our passengers. We know from listening to passengers and stakeholders that alongside improved performance, what they want to see is additional seats and we will deliver this via these state-of-the-art trains.'

Jeremy Long, CEO, European Business at MTR, said: 'We look forward to working together with FirstGroup to introduce this new fleet of trains.'

Richard Hunter, UK Managing Director, Bombardier Transportation, said 'We are thrilled to have won this important contract. It demonstrates further confidence placed in this market leading rolling stock, designed and built in Britain. This order is a fantastic endorsement of our skilled workforce and the quality of the products we design, engineer and manufacture here in the UK. It will ensure a stable, long-term workload for our staff in Derby. AVENTRA offers enhanced performance and increased passenger capacity, which will play an important part in helping FirstGroup and MTR satisfy continued levels of passenger growth on the South Western network.'

Mark Swindell, Chief Executive Officer of Rock Rail said: 'Rock Rail are delighted to be funding and leasing these trains which will bring a step change to the travelling experience for so many commuters. Our funders are leading pension and insurance institutions from both the UK and overseas who are directly investing in the UK's long term economic infrastructure, on a basis that delivers significant cost savings and value for money enhancement for UK operators. We look forward to working closely with FirstGroup and MTR and all our partners to bring these trains into service.'

ENDS

Note to Editors:

About FirstGroup

FirstGroup plc (LSE: FGP.L) is a leading transport operator in the UK and North America. With £5.7 billion in revenue and more than 100,000 employees, we transported around two billion passengers last year. Each of our five divisions is a leader in its field: In North America, First Student is the largest provider of student transportation with a fleet of around 44,000 yellow school buses, First Transit is one of the largest providers of outsourced transit management and contracting services, while Greyhound is the only nationwide operator of scheduled intercity coaches. In the UK, First Bus is one of Britain's largest bus operators, transporting 1.6 million passengers a day, and we are one of the country's most experienced rail operators, carrying around 130 million passengers last year.

Our vision is to provide solutions for an increasingly congested world... keeping people moving and communities prospering.

Visit our website atwww.firstgroupplc.comand follow us@FirstGroupplc on Twitter.

About MTR Corporation

MTR Corporation is headquartered in Hong Kong and is acknowledged as one of the world's leading operators of metro, commuter, inter-city and airport rail systems with rail operations in Hong Kong, China, Australia, Sweden and the UK. It is also a property developer, and manages shopping malls, retail units, apartments and other major buildings along some of its lines.

In the UK, MTR is the operator of the Elizabeth Line concession (the name for the Crossrail route), and currently runs TfL Rail services between Liverpool Street and Shenfield. MTR was a joint venture partner in London Overground Rail Operations Ltd (LOROL) between November 2007 and November 2016.

Listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, MTR has a market capitalisation of approximately £22.3 billion, and is included on the FTSE4Good and Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes. It won over 50 awards in 2016 for quality, customer service and sustainability.

About Bombardier Transportation

Bombardier Transportation is a global leader in rail technology and offers the broadest portfolio in the industry. It covers the full spectrum of rail solutions, ranging from trains to sub-systems and signalling. The company also provides complete transport systems, e-mobility technology and maintenance services. As an innovation driver, Bombardier Transportation continuously breaks new ground in sustainable mobility. It provides integrated solutions that create substantial benefits for operators, passengers and the environment. Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, Bombardier Transportation employs around 37,150 people and its products and services operate in over 60 countries.

About Bombardier

Bombardier is the world's leading manufacturer of both planes and trains. Looking far ahead while delivering today, Bombardier is evolving mobility worldwide by answering the call for more efficient, sustainable and enjoyable transportation everywhere. Our vehicles, services and, most of all, our employees are what make us a global leader in transportation. Bombardier is headquartered in Montréal, Canada. Our shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (BBD) and we are listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index. In the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, we posted revenues of $16.3 billion. News and information are available atbombardier.comor follow us on Twitter@Bombardier.

About Rock Rail

Investor developer Rock Infrastructure established Rock Rail in 2014 to focus on the development of innovative, value enhancing funding approaches for strategically important UK passenger rolling stock and other rail infrastructure. Over the past 18 months, Rock Rail has secured £2 billion of new rolling stock fleets from Siemens, Stadler and Bombardier for use by GTR, Abellio and First MTR on Moorgate, East Anglia and South Western rail franchise services respectively.

Rock Rail invests on behalf of its institutional investors in trains which represent a core passenger fleet for the rail franchise. Rock Rail works closely with the franchise train operators and the train manufacturers to ensure a collaborative approach to design, manufacture and acceptance of the new state of the art trains on time and to budget as well as to manage the long term residual value and releasing risks. For more information on Rock Rail, please visitwww.rockinfrastructure.com.

About SL Capital

SL Capital Partners is recognised as one of the foremost private market investors, focused on providing solutions and unique investment opportunities to clients in private equity, infrastructure, strategic credit and mid-market debt. Over the past 19 years it has raised over €10.8 billion (c. $11.6 billion) through 31 funds, with more than 80% of this capital sourced from third party investors.

SLCI I is the infrastructure fund managed by SL Capital Partners, targeting long-term investment in core infrastructure assets in the UK and North West Europe. The Fund's capital has been raised from pension funds from the UK, Canada and Europe. SL Capital reached a final close of SLCI I in February 2017 having raised £516 million.

This track record of investing in private equity (primary funds, secondary opportunities and direct co-investments), infrastructure (direct investments), strategic credit (primary funds) and junior debt (direct investments) has attracted clients ranging from leading institutional investors in the UK, US, Canada, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, to family offices and high net worth individuals. SL Capital Partners manage segregated accounts for some of the worlds' largest pension funds. SL Capital Partners has 30 dedicated investment professionals who manage the fund, secondary and direct investment programs. In total, SL Capital Partners has 62 staff operating through offices in Edinburgh (UK), Boston (US) and Munich (Germany).

About GLIL

Originally launched in April 2015, GLIL Infrastructure is a £1.275bn infrastructure investment joint-venture between the London Pensions Fund Authority, Greater Manchester Pension Fund, Merseyside Pension Fund, West Yorkshire Pension Fund and Lancashire County Pension Fund. It was created to increase exposure to UK infrastructure, deliver long-term returns that match liabilities and support major UK infrastructure projects. GLIL Infrastructure leverages the resources of its contributing funds across people, capital and expertise. The joint venture takes a flexible investment approach and actively seeks out partners for investment.

Media contacts:

Department for Transport:

James Taylor, Press Officer, Group [e-mail]020 7944 0287 | 07717 158032

Paul Starbrook, Deputy Head of Public Affairs, Passenger [e-mail], 07748 760513.

FirstGroup:

Faisal Tabbah, Head of Investor [e-mail]

Stuart Butchers, Group Head of [e-mail]

Tel: [phone]

Michael Harrison / Andrew Porter, Brunswick PR
Tel: [phone]

MTR:

Nick Collins, MHP Communications,[e-mail], [phone]

Bombardier Transportation:

Charles O'Brien, Finsbury PR.charles.o'[e-mail], 020 7251 3801.

Rock Rail:

Mark Swindell, CEO Rock Rail Holdings Ltd, + 44 (0)7971 142 109,[e-mail]

SL Capital Partners:

Roger Pim, Managing Partner, SL Capital Partners

[phone]

Dominic Helmsley, Managing Director, Infrastructure, SL Capital Partners

+ 44 0207 872 [e-mail]

Anna Davies, CNC Communications

[phone] [e-mail]

Riku Heikkila, CNC Communications

[phone] [e-mail]

GLIL:

Tess Harris, MHP Communications [phone]