Bahn Goes British
January 21, 2008
DB is buying Laing Rail for an undisclosed sum from the infrastructure company John Laing.
It currently runs the lucrative Chiltern Railways and has a 50 percent share in two other British regional rail companies. The move is still subject to approval from British regulatory authorities.
Serving London's stockbroker belt and beyond
Chiltern Railways is "the fastest growing (rail) company in Great Britain," according to Deutsche Bahn. It carries passengers between London and Birmingham as well as between London and Aylesbury.
DB has confirmed that the Chiltern Railways identity and name will remain unchanged and that the British management team will remain in place.
The group, which will become part of DB Regio, had sales of around 160 million euros ($234 million) and transported 17 million people in 2007.
Financial Times Deutschland has estimated the transaction is worth 170 million euros. The newspaper also reported that the Germany rail company defeated a rival bid by the French national railway SNCF.
Deutsche Bahn is present in the rail freight sector in Britain, following its takeover of the transport group EWS, but has not been represented in the passenger market up to now.
Deutsche Bahn to continue looking abroad
The company has been focusing on foreign growth over recent years to compensate for the stagnant domestic market.
Karl-Friedrich Rausch, a member of the DB Management Board, welcomed the step.
“We will now be operating large-scale passenger transport outside of Germany," he said. "It will allow us to substantially strengthen our position in the European market along with providing the basis for further growth."