National Express

UK-based intercity coach operator National Express has been selected as the preferred bidder by local transport authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia for a further two rail contracts in Germany.

The contracts are for two of the three that cover the Rhine-Ruhr Express (RRX) services, which operate between cities such as Cologne, Dusseldorf and Dortmund.

National Express’ services will carry about 30 million passengers a year and first of the contracts will start in December 2018 with the second in December 2020, while both will run until December 2033.

The RRX services serve the same region and some of the same cities as the two contracts that National Express will begin operating from December.

"It strengthens our presence in the North Rhine-Westphalia region, where we begin operating our first contracts later this year."

These contracts include a regional express service between Rheine-Munster-Cologne-Krefeld and a Bonn-Cologne-Wuppertal stopping service.

Over their lifetimes, the two new contracts are expected to jointly generate revenues of approximately €1bn.

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National Express Group chief executive Dean Finch said: "It strengthens our presence in the North Rhine-Westphalia region, where we begin operating our first contracts later this year."

The three lines covered under these two contracts include Koblenz-Cologne-Wesel, Cologne-Dusseldorf-Minden and Aachen-Dusseldorf-Dortmund, which serve a region of 15 million inhabitants.

The contracts have been let by seven local authorities led by the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr authority.


Image: An artist’s impression of how the new Rhine-Ruhr Express trains will look in service. Photo: courtesy of National Express Group.