Deutsche Bahn buys into UK

Deutsche Bahn (DB) has bought engineering firm Laing Rail - owner of Chiltern Railways - subject to regulatory approval.

According to reports in the German media, the state-owned operator is preparing to pay E170m (£127m) for the operation.

Chiltern Railways runs services from London to Aylesbury, High Wycombe and Birmingham, and has its franchise secured until 2020, one of the longest in the UK. DB confirmed the Chiltern Railways brand and management team will remain unchanged.

A DB spokesman told ABTN it has no plans for extra investment in the service: ”They are holders of the National Rail Awards ”Passenger Operator of the Year” and have a customer satisfaction rate of more than 90% so they”re doing extremely well. There”s no reason for any major changes. 

”They are planning to improve services anyway, including building an additional station at Aylesbury Vale Parkway Station, north of town, which is due in 2009 and will make journeys into London easier for people driving to catch a train off the A41. They”ve introduced mobile phone ticketing ” one of the first operators to do so ” and are investing in other stations and rolling stock.”

Laing Rail also has a 50% stake in London Overground Rail Operations ” which will run the East London Line from 2010 - and the same share of the Wrexham, Shropshire and Marylebone Railway, which starts services in the spring.

DB management board member, Dr Karl-Friedrich Rausch, said: ”We will now be operating large-scale passenger transport outside Germany. It will allow us to substantially strengthen our position in the European market along with providing the basis for further growth.”

Chiltern will be part of DB Regio ” the regional and local division of the parent company ” and the chairman of its management board, Ulrich Homburg, added: ”This acquisition gives us great scope for further growth in the UK rail market. We intend to enter into a long-term commitment in the UK and make continuous investments in the quality of our services.”

Last year DB bought the largest British freight rail operator, EWS, and has previously considered entering the passenger market but decided against separate bids for the Scotrail and InterCity East Coast franchises.

The DB spokesman told ABTN it could learn a lot from the UK”s privatised industry: ”It is different, and we”re trying to learn from each other and have an exchange of best practice. We want to find out how we can improve services in both countries.

A Chiltern Railways spokesman said the company didn”t mind being a platform for DB”s clearly professed expansion into the UK: ”To do that, they have to demonstrate they can run a British rail company well, so they want to help us to get even better.

”We”re honouring our current investment plans, and with the might of Europe”s largest train operator behind us, passengers can expect great things.”