Abellio UK has signed an agreement to sell 40% of its Greater Anglia rail franchise to Japanese company Mitsui.

The latest move fulfils Abellio’s objective of finding a suitable partner to run Greater Anglia in a 60:40 joint venture (JV).

Initially, Abellio and Mitsui entered a JV to bid for the West Midlands rail franchise last year, along with East Japan Railway Company.

After completing this process, Abellio selected Mitsui as partner to help deliver its programme to transform the Greater Anglia franchise.

Abellio managing director Dominic Booth said: “We are delighted to have reached agreement with Mitsui, fulfilling our long standing objective of running the franchise as a 60:40 joint venture.

"We look forward to delivering significant improvements for Greater Anglia's customers, including through the introduction of a brand new fleet."

“With the introduction of Mitsui’s knowledge and experience, we look forward to delivering significant improvements for Greater Anglia’s customers, including through the introduction of a brand new fleet.”

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Abellio first operated the Greater Anglia from February 2012 and was reawarded the franchise in August last year.

The company will continue to have a majority stake in the business and also take overall control.

Under the franchise agreement, £1.4bn is planned to be invested over the next nine years. Furthermore, a proposed new fleet would be introduced to cut average journey times by 10%.