Hints and tips:
...The company will instead focus on its growing operations in North America and continental Europe, including an expanding train operating business in Germany....
...Trenitalia, meanwhile, becomes the latest European state-owned operator to be involved in running UK rail franchises, joining Germany’s Deutsche Bahn, the Netherlands’ Abellio, part of the NS Group, and Keolis...
...Arriva’s bid also triumphed over rival tenders from Metroline Rail and a joint venture between Go-Ahead Group and France’s Keolis, which already jointly run Britain’s biggest railway franchise that includes...
...FirstGroup has run the train line, which runs services in the north of England and into Scotland, since 2004 with Keolis, its joint venture partner....
...These include reduced rental activity by oil and gas businesses in North America, where Ashtead generates around 85 per cent of revenues....
...Any win in Germany would be Go-Ahead’s first contract outside its home market since it quit school bus operations in North America last year....
...Losing the Thameslink franchise in May — the UK’s biggest rail contract, worth £1.2bn in annual revenue — to Go-Ahead and Keolis, the French state-owned group, was another severe blow....
...FirstGroup lost 9.7 per cent to 108.2p on a report that it has been beaten by Eurostar and Keolis for the UK’s East Coast mainline rail franchise....
...“The operating environment in North America is competitive but we remain positive on the division’s prospects and the market opportunity,” it said....
...Go-Ahead won the UK’s biggest rail franchise, Thameslink, in May, as part of its joint venture with French operator Keolis under the Govia brand, and the win is set to boost returns to shareholders....
...But time pressure could prompt conservatism, warns Mark Manduca, analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch....
...The shortlist also includes Virgin Trains, the incumbent, and two foreign, state-backed groups, Keolis of France and Holland’s Abellio....
...franchise, for which FirstGroup is bidding alongside Stagecoach’s joint venture with Virgin Group and state-backed operators Abellio of the Netherlands and Keolis of France....
...France’s SNCF has also had its eye on Arriva, having failed this month to secure control of the British operations by merging them into its Keolis subsidiary, which runs trains, trams and buses in several...
...France’s SNCF has also had its eye on Arriva, having failed this month to secure control of the UK operations by merging them into its Keolis subsidiary, which runs trains, trams and buses in several European...
...There was, however, no update on its merger discussions with Keolis, the French transport group....
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