FirstGroup, National Express miss out on East Anglia rail franchise

Abellio East Anglia, which is a subsidiary of state-owned Nederlandse Spoorwegen, will run the franchise from October 2016 after pledging to deliver faster, more frequent journeys along the route, with a £1.4bn investment in rail services with more than 1,040 new carriages added.

Abellio will run a 90-minute service between Norwich and London each weekday with journey times to be cut by 10% on average across the region.

As part of the bid, the company agreed a £1bn contract with Canadian manufacturer Bombardier to supply new trains made at its Derby works.

FirstGroup said it was disappointed not to have been awarded the franchise, having submitting "a compelling, deliverable, and value for money bid".

The FTSE 250 group added: "We continue to be disciplined in our approach to bidding for UK rail contracts and will seek feedback from the Department for Transport to help shape our approach to future competitions."

National Express also said it would seek feedback to help inform future bids.