Stagecoach Still Interested In NXEA

Following on from the collapse of the takeover bid by the CVC / Cosman family it is reported that Stagecoach may still be interested in the UK operations. As part of the CVC bid it was intended that Stagecoach would takeover the UK bus and rail operations of National Express - which includes National Express East Anglia (NXEA) - and Stagecoach are said to still regard these operations as attractive 'at the right price'.

Go Ahead Group Plc, the UK's biggest rail company by passenger numbers has declined to say whether it is interested in National Express. FirstGroup Plc which made an abortive bid earlier in the year has said in the past that it is only interested in the East Coast mainline route.

As previously mentioned, much still hangs in the balance regarding whether the government will take the NXEA and C2C back into public ownership.

CVC & Cosmen Family Withdraw From Takeover Bid

In what is being seen as something of a surprise move the Cosmen Family and CVC have pulled out of their proposed takeover bid for National Express Group. Media reports suggest that the consortium faced a number of hurdles, including the £1bn - £1.2bn needed debt package and they were not able to secure the necessary funding.

National Express Group will now seek to raise cash from investors to strengthen its financial position in a move that will be supported by the Cosmen family who own 18.5% of the company.

This latest move now brings back into play the prospect of the government taking back the NXEA and C2C franchises into public ownership, albeit temporarily, following the imminent hand over of the troubled NXEC franchise by National Express. Assuming, as many do, that the government would rather see the franchises stay in the private sector it may well be that another operator - perhaps Stagecoach - will make a bid....?

Train Refurbishment

Passengers may be aware that the Class 321 trains - the green sliding door trains - are currently undergoing refurbishment, albeit one train at a time. As part of this refurbishment the National Express corporate identity is being applied. The MRUA has asked what plans are in place to cope with the possible imminent change of franchise to Stagecoach and the inevitable rebranding exercise that will take place. The MRUA does not wish to see more money being wasted on yet another rebranding exercise leading to a sixth different colour scheme currently seen on our trains.

Stagecoach Set To Take Over NXEA 'Within Weeks'

According to industry sources National Express is now set to leave the rail industry within a few weeks. The East Anglia (NXEA) and C2C franchises are expected to transfer to Stagecoach while the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) says that the East Coast franchise will be in the hands of the Department for Transport by early December.

It had been expected that an announcement would be made by 16th October but the Spanish buyers of the National Express Group have asked for more time. The remaining uncertainties are reported to concern the Spanish coach operations of NX rather than its assets in the UK.

Emails to MRUA - Update

Emails addressed to info@mrua.org now appear to be working. Please can we request that anybody who emailed us since Saturday and has not had a response send us their email again.

Apologies for the inconvenience.

Emails to MRUA

Please note that any emails sent to info@mrua.org since early Saturday will not have reached us. The problem is ongoing unfortunately but we will post here when resolved. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Harwich Branch - 30 Comments Received

NXEA are reporting that despite comments in the media stating that over 800 objections have been sent to them regarding the intended changes to the timetable on the Harwich branch in December 2010, they have in fact only received something in the region of 30 comments.

The reasons behind the intended introduction of a shuttle service between Harwich Town and Manningtree are many and varied and have been reported here before. In summary, the changes that may adversely affect some users of the branch line will actually enhance the journeys of the vast majority of passengers on the Great Eastern mainline, especially nearer London. There is no solution that will please everyone and due to the severe capacity restrictions in our region the timetablers have to take into account the requirements of the vast majority.