Rail firms submit franchise bid for Folkestone line

3.47.20pm BST (GMT +0100) Sun 31st Jul 2005

The firm which runs the Hong Kong Metro and a UK train company have submitted a bid to take over the rail franchise for the south east of England including services to Folkestone Central and West stations.

GNER, which runs the East Coast Main Line franchise, and Hong Kong firm MTR have joined forces under the name Great South Eastern Railway (GSER). MTR and GNER are expected to compete against three other bidders - Danish State Railways, FirstGroup and a consortium of Go-Ahead Group and Keolis.

The franchise covers trains throughout Kent, parts of Sussex and Surrey and into London from those counties. The successful company is also set to run high speed services on the new Channel Tunnel Rail Link from 2008 or 2009. The high speed services will cut journey times from Folkestone Central and West to London to under an hour, running to London St Pancras.

The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) stripped French-owned Connex of its franchise in June 2003, stating poor financial management as the reason. It was replaced five months later by South Eastern Trains, a subsidiary of the SRA.

The Rail Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) has said it would like the area's trains kept under public sector control, arguing reliability has improved.