Arriva wins London Overground concession

One of London's largest railway concessions was awarded to Arriva on Friday, with the German-owned transport group set to take over the current 50-50 joint venture on London Overground.

Transport for London confirmed the £1.5bn contract to operate the 112-station suburban network would go to the company - owned by the German state rail operator Deutsche Bahn - for seven and a half years, beginning in November.

The network was currently run by London Overground Rail Operations Ltd (LOROL), an equal joint venture between Arriva and Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTR).

Bidders on the shortlist were Arriva, LoKeGo - a joint venture between Keolis and Go-Ahead, Metroline Rail, and MTR.

TfL said under the new concession, a number of lines would benefit from extended operating hours, with new services introduced on some routes from Boxing Day.

Arriva would also be expected to deliver sustained improvements in performance levels, including financial penalties for incidents possibly beyond its control, such as those caused by Network Rail, and other train and freight operators on the Overground network.

The measurement for punctuality on commuter services was also being tightened to three minutes within the scheduled arrival time, from the national standard five minutes.

"We have worked hard to deliver major improvements for our customers, taking a neglected part of the transport network and transforming it to support new homes, jobs and economic growth across the capital," said TfL chief operating officer Gary Powell.

"Arriva will build on this by extending operating hours, improving frequencies and introducing new trains. I would also like to thank the existing operator LOROL for their work that has helped make London Overground the huge success story it is today," he added.

The local government body confirmed Arriva's concession included the routes out of Liverpool Street to Enfield Town, Cheshunt and Chingford absorbed by the Overground last year, as well as services between Romford and Upminster.

Go-Ahead released a statement early on Friday, expressing its disappointment at not winning the contract after submitting the joint bid with Keolis.

It said it would seek feedback from TfL as part of its evaluation and review.

The London Overground was created in 2007 by combining a number of legacy National Rail routes with the former East London Tube line, in a bid to improve connections in parts of the capital underserved by the underground or other frequent services.

Since upgrading stations, introducing new high-capacity trains and improving frequencies, TfL said passenger numbers had risen 400% since the network was created. It was now forming a partnership with the Department for Transport to gradually take over all of the capital's suburban services and create a 'Metro' network.