SNCF joins Virgin Trains in WCP bid

摘要

Having submitted its expression of interest the day before in line with DfT's bidding timetable (RBl526 p1), Virgin Trains announced on April 25 that French national oper-ator SNCF had joined its bid for the West Coast Partnership. WCP com-bines the replacement Intercity West Coast franchise with train operations on High Speed 2 (p2). Taking a 30% stake in the bid-ding vehicle, SNCF will provide the experience of high-speed operations that DfT requires for WCP. Stage-coach Group holds 50% of the joint venture and Virgin Holdings 20%.