Renfe, Spain’s national rail company, has said that it plans to submit bids for all the UK rail franchises that are due to come up for tender over the coming months.
These include ‘prestigious’ franchises such as East Coast and Great Western.
Despite failing to be short listed for both the Greater Anglia and West Coast franchises, Renfe say that following talks with the DfT that outlined the reasons why the operator didn’t make it onto the list, they are now in a much stronger position to bid for future franchises.
Renfe’s chairman and chief executive Teofilo Serrano said:
“We need to operate in the UK as all the big state companies are here. There is very strong competition here but the system is good for operators.
“The refocus of the DfT on value for money gives us opportunities to deploy our experience.”
If Renfe was to be awarded a rail franchise it would assist them to enter the competition for the contract to construct and operate HS2.
