What does this mean?
The government has announced that a Hong Kong rail company is set to help the UK’s South West Trains.
MTR, runs the Hong Kong Metro, it has been awarded the franchise along with First Group to run South West Trains (SWT) for seven years.
MTR is set to take over Stagecoach, the company which currently runs SWT services across south west England to and from London Waterloo.
Stagecoach has said it’s disappointed with the new decision.
The Department for Transport (DfT) has said the new operators will help oversee a £1.2bn investment which is set to improve journeys for millions of passengers using the train service.
It also said the new franchise would add 22,000 extra seats into London Waterloo on every morning peak, as well as 30,000 extra seats to each evening peak.
Jeremy Long, from MTR, said: “Together we will deliver a major programme of upgrades, including improvements to both rail services and customer experience, for passengers travelling across the South Western network.”
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