Abellio has
sold 40% of their Greater Anglia stake to Mitsui Group, which is one of
the largest trading companies in Japan.
From Mitsui
Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui",
Head Office: Tokyo, President and CEO: Tatsuo Yasunaga) has entered into an
agreement with Abellio Transport Group Limited ("Abellio UK") to
acquire a 40% stake in the East Anglia franchise ("Project"). After
obtaining regulatory approval, Mitsui will make the relevant capital investment
and complete this transaction.
This Project operates passenger rail
services in the eastern region of England, extending from southern areas around
London to important regional hubs such as Cambridge and Norwich, which are
expanding their populations as commuter towns. The rolling stock used for these
railway services is very old, with an average age of 26 years. The full
replacement of the rolling stock is planned to improve the operation of these
rail services.
Abellio UK is a wholly owned subsidiary of
the Nederlandse Spoorwegen N.V. Group ("NS"), the national railway of
Netherlands, which operates public transportation trains and buses in the UK.
Mitsui has built up vast experience in
railway infrastructure construction and freight car and locomotive leasing
business in the railway industry in the Americas, Europe, Asia and others. In
2007, Mitsui participated in São Paulo Subway line No. 4 PPP, which is its first
concession/PPP business for passenger railways. Furthermore, in 2014, Mitsui
fully participated in the general cargo rail transportation business and the
passenger railway operation in Brazil. Through these projects, Mitsui has
strengthened and widened its involvement in the railway operation field and is
expanding its railway business.
Mitsui intends to contribute to the
development of this franchise and enhance the value of the Project by utilizing
its experience and expertise. Through this Project, Mitsui will work to gain
further knowledge of the UK public-private partnership model which focuses on
generating passenger demand by improving the operation service, and expand
Mitsui's railways business in the UK and other countries.
Here’s the
diagram of the ownership for Greater Anglia train company.
Also,
Abellio has their own press release in a PDF format which you can read here.
For the maps
and timetables of the train companies that serve Greater London – the links to
the train company sites have been compiled in to one article which you can view
here.
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