CVC & Cosmen Family Withdraw From Takeover Bid

In what is being seen as something of a surprise move the Cosmen Family and CVC have pulled out of their proposed takeover bid for National Express Group. Media reports suggest that the consortium faced a number of hurdles, including the £1bn - £1.2bn needed debt package and they were not able to secure the necessary funding.

National Express Group will now seek to raise cash from investors to strengthen its financial position in a move that will be supported by the Cosmen family who own 18.5% of the company.

This latest move now brings back into play the prospect of the government taking back the NXEA and C2C franchises into public ownership, albeit temporarily, following the imminent hand over of the troubled NXEC franchise by National Express. Assuming, as many do, that the government would rather see the franchises stay in the private sector it may well be that another operator - perhaps Stagecoach - will make a bid....?

Train Refurbishment

Passengers may be aware that the Class 321 trains - the green sliding door trains - are currently undergoing refurbishment, albeit one train at a time. As part of this refurbishment the National Express corporate identity is being applied. The Manningtree Rail Users Association (MRUA) has asked what plans are in place to cope with the possible imminent change of franchise to Stagecoach and the inevitable rebranding exercise that will take place. The MRUA does not wish to see more money being wasted on yet another rebranding exercise leading to a sixth different colour scheme currently seen on our trains.

Stagecoach Set To Take Over NXEA 'Within Weeks'

According to industry sources National Express is now set to leave the rail industry within a few weeks. The East Anglia (NXEA) and C2C franchises are expected to transfer to Stagecoach while the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) says that the East Coast franchise will be in the hands of the Department for Transport by early December.

It had been expected that an announcement would be made by 16th October but the Spanish buyers of the National Express Group have asked for more time. The remaining uncertainties are reported to concern the Spanish coach operations of NX rather than its assets in the UK.

Colchester Station Travel Plan - Set For Launch

More information regarding the Colchester Station Travel Plan can be found on the NXEA website here.

Emails to ERUF - Update

Emails addressed to info@eruf.org now appear to be working. Please can we request that anybody who emailed us since Saturday and has not had a response send us their email again.

Apologies for the inconvenience.

Emails to ERUF

Please note that any emails sent to info@eruf.org since early Saturday will not have reached us. The problem is ongoing unfortunately but we will post here when resolved. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Colchester Station Travel Plan - Stakeholder Event

NXEA, Colchester Borough Council and Essex County Council are to host an event to mark the launch of the Colchester Station Travel Plan. The event takes the form of a small exhibition on the north side forecourt of the station on Monday 12th October from 15:30 to 19:30.

The aim of the event is to explain to stakeholders and users of the station the purpose of the Station Travel Plan and the various elements that will be implemented, starting this winter.