Virgin Trains will partner with the French high speed operator, SNCF, in our bid with Stagecoach for the next combined West Coast/HS2 franchise.

The Government has announced the West Coast Partnership will run from 2019 to 2026, which will include the first few years of HS2. Consequently, bidders must have high speed experience and SNCF brings that to our partnership.

The shareholding for the bid is Stagecoach 50%, SNCF 30% and Virgin 20%. We have already submitted the expression of interest which is the first stage of the bid, and have been shortlisted by the Department for Transport as a bidder for the franchise. The next stage is preparing for the invitation to tender, which is expected to be issued by the end of the year.