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Date: Wednesday 20 Aug 2008

LONDON (ShareCast) - The Department for Transport has published the shortlist of four candidates for the South Central rail services franchise.

The list comprises UK companies National Express and Stagecoach, Dutch company NedRailways, plus Govia, a joint-venture between Go-Ahead and Keolis.

The franchise up for grabs includes the existing Southern franchise and Gatwick Express services, plus the Tonbridge to Redhill route, which is presently part of the Southeastern franchise, currently operated by Govia.

The new franchise will start in September 2009 and will run until July 2015, with the last year subject to performance against set benchmarks.

The winner of the new franchise will be obliged to help “facilitate” the East London line extension in 2010 and the £5.5bn Thameslink programme.

“It's also vital that the winner of this franchise helps facilitate the delivery of major projects that, when complete, will substantially increase capacity on some of the busiest parts of the rail network,” said Rail Minister Tom Harris.

“We look forward to seeing strong bids from each of the competitors for this important franchise. We want passengers across the franchise area to see improvements - longer trains, safer stations and later running services,” Harris added.

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