Trenitalia lands on British market and purchases Nxet

Rome - Trenitalia has entered the railway market in Great Britain. Trenitalia UK, a London-based subsidiary company, reached an agreement with the National Express Group for the purchase of all the shares of Nxet (National Express Essex Thameside), manager of the C2C (Coast toCoast ) franchise, for the connections between the City of London and Shoesburyness, on the eastern coast of South Essex. A communique released by the company announced that the entire operation will cost approx. 70 million pounds. The acquisition will formally take place at the end of the authorisation process already issued with the British Department of Transport (DoT). In 2014, this Department had awarded Nxet the contract, following a public tender, with a deadline in 2029. The acquisition of Nxet, which has a turnover of approx. 200 million euros, 600 employees, and a fleet of 74 Bombardier trains, will "represent the achievement of another goal within the framework of an internationalisation strategy, which is one of the pillars of the 2017-2026 Industrial Plan of Gruppo Fs Italiane. The high quality of the service provided by Nxet, 400 connections for over 42 million passengers/year using the 26 stations along the London-Shoesburyness line, has been confirmed by the top position in the ranking of British franchising businesses in terms of punctuality, in line with Trenitalia's customer-centric approach. Trenitalia UK will continue to aim at the goal of customer satisfaction by introducing innovative technologies, which is one of the fundamental levers for growth." The recent constitution of Trenitalia UK, a company incorporated under British law, "is a sign of Trenitalia's determination of establishing itself on the UK market, which has considerable potential. This process was initiated at the end of 2015 with the achievement of the so-called Passport, and Trenitalia was first among the companies not present on the UK market. Passport was a basic prerequisite to participate in the British railway calls for tenders. Trenitalia UK is already at work to gather all necessary documentation to participate in the tenders for transport services called by the Department of Transport." Barbara Morgante, a director, underlined: "We are particularly pleased to have the opportunity to confront UK competitors starting with the C2C franchise which, considering the excellent performance in these past years, is the ideal way to jump into the British railway market."