The operator behind Stansted Express could soon be running rail services for the whole of East Anglia.

Rail services are set for a shake-up next year when the region's new franchises are awarded.

Stansted Express route director Alex Warner is delighted WAGN has been shortlisted for the Greater Anglia rail franchise.

The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA), the Government body which oversees Britain's rail network, is in charge of awarding contracts to private companies to run rail services.

Currently three rail firms operate services in the East Anglia - Anglia Railways, First Great Eastern and West Anglia Great Northern (WAGN).

But the SRA has announced that from next April, when the existing franchises expire, the three existing operations will be merged into one Greater Anglia rail franchise.

Three operators - including National Express Group Ltd, which owns Stansted Express and WAGN - have qualified as bidders for the new Greater Anglia franchise.

The other short-listed bidders are Arriva Trains Ltd and GB Railways Plc.

The franchise, which will last for up to ten years, has been created in conjunction with the SRA's policy of having one operator for each of the major London railway stations.

A preferred bidder is expected to be announced in spring 2004.

Route director for Stansted Express Alex Warner said: "We are delighted to be through to the final three, and we have a number of innovative ideas for Stansted Express - which is a key part of the WAGN franchise - particularly focusing on timetabling and meeting the anticipated extra demand at Stansted as it expands.

"Innovation and our track record as the incumbent operator will, we hope, put us in a strong position. Even though we are in the last year of our current franchise we are continuing to enhance and develop the service."

Commenting on its bid, a spokesperson for National Express Group said: "We are awaiting documentation from the SRA. We need to see finer detail before putting our proposals forward."

Concerning the omission of First Great Eastern from the bidding process, Amy Spenlove-Brown, communications manager at the SRA, said: "Regarding the decision on qualification for the Greater Anglia franchise, the only rule is quality of submission.

"The new franchising process sets very high, tough standards for qualification, and in this case it was a competitive field. In this competition we've taken through the parties who submitted the strongest qualification material and in this case, this didn't include FirstGroup."

Published Wednesday, April 23, 2003