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Transport 1997
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The information below comes from the UK Activity Report.
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Railtrack is to go-ahead with plans to upgrade the freight route between Glasgow and the Channel tunnel, and hopes the government will provide up to £150m of grants for the project. 29-Dec-1997 London & Continental Railways has missed the Christmas deadline to appoint tunnelling contractors for the £5.4bn high-speed rail link between London and the Channel tunnel, but still expects work to start as planned on April 1 1998. 27-Dec-1997 Virgin Rail is asking for a 15 year extension to its west coast main line franchise, taking it to the year 2027, in order to justify a £500m investment in tilting trains. 24-Dec-1997 Henlys, along with its joint venture partner Volvo Bus, has acquired Nova Bus of Montreal for £21m. 23-Dec-1997 Eurotunnel has won agreement from the UK and French governments to extend its operating licence from 2052 to 2086, but will have to pay 40% of its after-tax profits to the two governments after 2052. 20-Dec-1997 British Airways has won Civil Aviation Authority approval to operate a daily flight from Gatwick to Denver, beating off Virgin Atlantic's attempt to operate a twice a week flight from Gatwick to Las Vegas. 18-Dec-1997 Stagecoach is linking up with Mota, the Portuguese construction company, to submit a tender to operate the north-south rail link in Lisbon. 18-Dec-1997 National Express has been told by the government that it must sell off its Scottish coach network in order to keep the ScotRail train franchise, following an investigation by the MMC. 17-Dec-1997 AB Airlines is planning to raise £12.5m through a flotation on Aim in March in order to finance new routes and six new aircraft. 15-Dec-1997 Stagecoach is seeking approval to acquire the Yellow Bus Company in Auckland, New Zealand. 15-Dec-1997 NFC, the distribution company, is looking for acquisitions in the US, Asia and Latin America, but will return about £200m to shareholders if a suitable acquisition cannot be found. 11-Dec-1997 The Rail Regulator has announced a 2-year review of the way Railtrack charges train operators for rail access, in order to set up a new framework that will result in ongoing improvements to the rail network. 11-Dec-1997 British Midland is to launch an air service between Heathrow and Manchester to rival British Airways and the Virgin west coast rail line. 09-Dec-1997 Jarvis has won three 3-year contracts, worth a total £290m, from Railtrack for the renewal of track in Scotland, the north, Wales and the Midlands. 09-Dec-1997 Christian Salvesen has announced plans to create a pan-European distribution network, which will involve joint ventures and acquisitions for its industrial division. 05-Dec-1997 Virgin Rail has eliminated a joint venture between GEC Alsthom and Fiat Ferroviaria from its shortlist to build £250m of diesel trains for its CrossCountry franchise. 04-Dec-1997 EasyJet is discussing the possibility of using Rotterdam airport as its new base in the Netherlands. 04-Dec-1997 Stagecoach is launching "bus points", a similar scheme to air miles which is aimed at increasing passenger loyalty by offering vouchers from retailers. 03-Dec-1997 Stagecoach has been selected as preferred bidder to take over the operation of the South Yorkshire supertram project in Sheffield. 02-Dec-1997 BAA is to invest up to £500m on the expansion of its network of foreign airports, with negotiations already taking place in the US, Australia, Germany and Italy. 01-Dec-1997 BAA has begun a major restructuring programme that will create four divisions - one running its UK airports, a duty-free subsidiary, a property company, and an international division. 29-Nov-1997 P&O is creating a £350m joint venture with Shougang Group of China that will involve the merger of their bulk shipping businesses. 29-Nov-1997 P&O Ports, P&O's Australian subsidiary, is to acquire a 50% stake in Gruppo Investmenti Portuali, the Genoa-based port operator, for £12m in order to gain a role in a new container port in Sardinia. 27-Nov-1997 P&O has announced a 10% increase in freight rates for cross-Channel traffic, prompting calls from the Road Haulage Association for a review of the terms of its proposed merger with Stena. 27-Nov-1997 Porterbrook, the train leasing subsidiary of Stagecoach, is expected to soon place a £25m order for new diesel trains that will be offered on short-term leases to train operators. 27-Nov-1997 Great North Eastern Railway is offering to profit-share with the government in return for the doubling of its seven year franchise in order to justify an investment in eight new trains for its London to Scotland services. 25-Nov-1997 Virgin Rail is considering a plan to hire seven specially built Eurostar trains for its London to Manchester service, as a temporary measure until it receives delivery of new tilting trains. 25-Nov-1997 Forward Trust is to be renamed Forward Trust Rail and will become the first rolling stock company to offer new trains on 3-year leases to rail operators. 21-Nov-1997 Angel Train Contracts, the rail rolling stock company considering a flotation, is said to have attracted interest from three potential trade buyers. 20-Nov-1997 P&O and Stena Line have been given the go-ahead by the government and the European Commission to merge their Dover to Calais ferry services. 20-Nov-1997 English Welsh & Scottish Railway's recent acquisition of Railfreight Distribution has now been given European Commission approval, following a renegotiation with the government over the repayment of some of the grants promised. 20-Nov-1997 Virgin is considering the possibility of refurbishing old rolling stock for its CrossCountry rail network, instead of buying new tilting trains, although a number of options have been submitted by bidders. 20-Nov-1997 Kvaerner Govan is to shed 100 jobs at its Glasgow shipyard by the end of the year. 19-Nov-1997 KLM, the Dutch airline, is to set up a reservation call centre at Norwich airport, which will create 250 jobs over the next three years. 18-Nov-1997 FirstBus is changing its name to First Group, and has also announced a further £5m provision for the restructuring of Strathclyde Buses. 18-Nov-1997 London & Continental Railways is in discussions with seven companies who could help it build the high-speed Channel Tunnel rail link, but insists that it will not let its stake in the project fall below 51%. 18-Nov-1997 British Airways has announced plans for the launch of a cut-price airline based initially at Stansted airport, which will create 150 jobs. 18-Nov-1997 Seascope Shipping, the shipbroker, has rescheduled its planned flotation for November 27, and expects to raise £6.25m, some of which will be used to fund growth through acquisition. 15-Nov-1997 Stagecoach is planning to bid for the rights to run rail services in Lisbon, Portugal. 15-Nov-1997 Virgin Express, the low-cost airline, has raised $96m in an over-subscribed share offer and about $50m will be used to grow the business. 14-Nov-1997 London & Continental Railways is expected to miss the December 1st government deadline for raising funds for the Channel tunnel rail link, but says that the project is still on track. 13-Nov-1997 Hays has sold its dry cargo and tanker fleets as well as Crescent Shipping and Crescent Ship Management for a total £9.7m. 12-Nov-1997 Amec is forming a joint venture with Spie Batignolles of France to target the growing world railway market, which will be able to offer a comprehensive service in the construction of modern high-speed railway networks. 12-Nov-1997 The Jubilee line extension on the London Underground, which is intended to provide a vital link to the Millennium Dome in Greenwich, may not be finished in time, according to rail managers working on the project. 04-Nov-1997 GB Railways has a 19% stake in the Great Southern Railway consortium that has acquired the Australian National Railways Commission for £7m, and will provide management services to the consortium for at least five years. 01-Nov-1997 Generale des Eaux, the French owner of Connex, has expressed interest in joining any consortium that wants to operate London Underground routes, but said it would not want to run the track systems. 01-Nov-1997 Railtrack is discussing the possibility of helping the London & Continental Railways consortium to speed up the construction of the £3bn fast link to the Channel tunnel. 30-Oct-1997 Newcastle Airport has won shareholder approval for a £27m expansion that will double the size of the terminal by summer 2000. 29-Oct-1997 Railtrack and Virgin Rail have agreed a £2.1bn plan to double the capacity on the west coast route between London and Glasgow which will allow for the use of 140mph tilting trains. 29-Oct-1997 British Airways is considering plans to launch a low-cost airline with its own identity in order to compete with companies such as EasyJet, Ryanair and Debonair. 27-Oct-1997 British Airways is planning a 25% increase in capacity at Gatwick airport next year, creating 500 cabin-crew and customer service jobs. 24-Oct-1997 Chiltern Railways is placing a £6m order with Adtranz for new trains in order to increase the frequency of services between London and Birmingham. 23-Oct-1997 Continental Airlines of the US is to start daily flights from Glasgow Airport to Newark in New Jersey from next July. 23-Oct-1997 Virgin Express, the low-cost airline, is planning a flotation in Brussels and New York, in order to raise $100m for the expansion of its fleet and for working capital. 22-Oct-1997 Railtrack has made its first move into the international bond market with a £300m offering to help fund its £10bn investment programme and refinance some of its £2.4bn bank debt. 22-Oct-1997 Ryanair is planning to apply for a listing in London next year in order to build up a higher profile with investors as it launches new European routes from Stansted and Dublin. 22-Oct-1997 Kvaerner, the Anglo-Norwegian group, is discussing the acquisition of Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, with the intention of converting it into a facility for producing commercial tankers and creating up to 6,000 jobs. 20-Oct-1997 Midland Mainline, the National Express-owned rail company, is increasing the size of a recent order awarded to Adtranz from 13 to 17 trains, with the additional 4 trains costing £3m. 15-Oct-1997 Cowie Group, the car and bus concern, is to change its name to Arriva, which is deemed to be more appropriate for its planned European expansion. 15-Oct-1997 Ugland International is expanding Interocean Ugland Management, its Norwegian ship management joint venture with Totem Resources of the US, by doubling the fleet to 36 and opening a crewing office in Poland. 14-Oct-1997 TAG Group of Luxembourg has been selected to operate Farnborough aerodrome by the Ministry of Defence, and it aims to turn it into a dedicated airport for business jets while safeguarding the future of the international air show. 14-Oct-1997 Great Western Trains has been confirmed in its 10-year franchise and plans to double the frequency of its main high-speed services and purchase eight 5-carriage trains for £36m. 11-Oct-1997 Luton Borough Council has shortlisted 14 bidders for the running of Luton Airport, including Stagecoach, FirstBus, National Express, Go-Ahead, TBI, and Serco. 10-Oct-1997 Stagecoach is ordering 515 buses in a £55m investment and Cowie Group is ordering 200 buses for £10m, with Mayflower's Walter Alexander bus building division getting a large slice of the business. 09-Oct-1997 Marks & Spencer and BOC Distribution Services have introduced a fleet of 10 heavy goods vehicles powered by liquefied natural gas which will be used to deliver food to London stores. 09-Oct-1997 London & Continental Railways has announced plans for a £80m station at Stratford, east London, to serve the Channel tunnel rail link. 09-Oct-1997 P&O has announced a partnership with Farstad Shipping of Norway in which they will jointly operate their international offshore supply vessels. 08-Oct-1997 Stagecoach, the bus and train company, is to raise £125m in a bond issue for use as a general "war chest" for corporate activity. 07-Oct-1997 English, Welsh & Scottish Railway has reached agreement with the government over the terms on which it will take over British Rail's channel tunnel freight business, with other operators being allowed to share its trains in order to encourage competition. 06-Oct-1997 Prestwick airport is offering to pay £5m to any airline that maintains a direct link with the US, following the British Airways decision to end its flights to New York from the nearby Glasgow airport. 04-Oct-1997 Railtrack is in discussions with Virgin Rail about the possibility of upgrading the West Coast Main Line to cope with 140mph trains in return for a revenue-sharing agreement. 04-Oct-1997 British Airways has admitted that its proposed alliance with American Airlines will be delayed for almost a year as regulatory approval has not been given in time for the IATA conference that allocates flight slots. 04-Oct-1997 Trinity Holdings has won a £14m contract to make 100 double-decker buses for Stagecoach to use in London, and has separately announced its intention to change its name to Dennis Group. 03-Oct-1997 British Airways is moving its London to Inverness service from Heathrow to Gatwick and franchising it to its British Regional Airlines subsidiary. 01-Oct-1997 North London Railways, which is owned under franchise by National Express, has been renamed Silverlink Train Services. 30-Sep-1997 Fiat and GEC Alsthom have launched a joint bid to supply 57 trains to Virgin's Cross Country franchise, and will follow it up next month with a bid to supply 40 tilting trains for Virgin's west coast line. 30-Sep-1997 The new UK air traffic control centre at Swanwick will not now open until November 1999 at the earliest due to software problems. 27-Sep-1997 British Airways is negotiating the sale of its wheel and brake overhaul operations to Allied Signal Aerospace of the US. 27-Sep-1997 Sea Containers is forming a joint venture with GE Capital called GE SeaCo in order to provide cost savings in the management of their marine operations. 26-Sep-1997 Carisbrooke Shipping is to sell three ships to a newly-formed Dutch investment fund for £11.2m, and will take a stake of up to 20% in the fund with the option of buying back the vessels later. 23-Sep-1997 Tibbett & Britten is looking to expand its UK retail distribution business, despite the fact that some of its competitors are avoiding the sector due to low margins. 19-Sep-1997 P&O is considering plans to float its P&O Nedlloyd container joint venture in two years time, and has also announced an intention to reduce its bulk shipping operations. 19-Sep-1997 Transdev of France has expressed an interest in acquiring some of the London Underground lines if they are sold off. 19-Sep-1997 EasyJet is to triple the size of its fleet with an additional 12 Boeing 737-300's, and may set up additional hubs in Amsterdam and Athens. 17-Sep-1997 Eurostar is introducing a new ticket distribution system, called Elgar, which will give travel agents direct access to service details and enable them to print tickets. 17-Sep-1997 Hays is planning to expand its European distribution business into northern Italy over the next year, and also aims to expand its office service business through acquisition. 17-Sep-1997 British Airways is expecting to sell its Landing Gears unit next month to Hawker Pacific of California as part of a streamlining of its engineering operations. 13-Sep-1997 English Welsh & Scottish Railway is to transport 500,000 tonnes of steel coil a year from south Wales to the West Midlands on behalf of British Steel, in the biggest switch of heavy goods transport from road to rail since British Rail was privatised. 12-Sep-1997 National Express is planning to bid in the next round of regional airports being privatised in Australia, and is actively looking for other acquisitions in the UK and abroad. 12-Sep-1997 Great North Eastern Railway is planning to introduce two tilting trains on services between London, Newcastle and Edinburgh in 2000, having signed a deal with Fiat Ferroviaria, the Italian train builder. 10-Sep-1997 Cowie has acquired a 75% stake in Unibus, the loss-making Danish bus company, for £1m. 09-Sep-1997 Connex South Central is to reinstate four of the 70 London suburban trains it had planned to cut from its winter timetable following protests by passengers. 09-Sep-1997 British Airways and American Airlines have dropped Iberia from their proposed alliance in order to speed US regulatory approval for the deal. 09-Sep-1997 BZW, the investment bank, is said to be competing with TBI and National Express for a concession to run Luton Airport. 09-Sep-1997 Forth Ports has joined the bidding to operate the West Port container terminal in Dunkirk, and is competing against a number of French companies. 09-Sep-1997 The Cross River Partnership and the New Millennium Experience Company are inviting bids from operators interested in setting up a river boat service on the Thames, which would be used to take visitors to the Greenwich Millennium exhibition. 08-Sep-1997 Associated British Ports is devising a new strategy which will include additional services in the UK and international expansion as ports are being privatised in a number of other countries. 08-Sep-1997 Connex South Central is to cut back the frequency of its South London Metro service by 70 trains a day in order to match demand more closely. 04-Sep-1997 GB Railways is part of a consortium that is to buy the passenger business of the Australian National Railways Commission for £7.3m. 29-Aug-1997 Hays has agreed a £100m five-year contract to distribute goods to Shell's petrol station convenience stores, creating over 400 jobs at five distribution centres. 29-Aug-1997 British Waterways has asked the government if it can be transformed from a nationalised company into a charitable trust in order to boost investment through a membership scheme. 29-Aug-1997 Stagecoach has sold Swebus Danmark, the Danish subsidiary of its recently-acquired Swebus business, to DSB busser in a deal thought to be worth less than £2m. 28-Aug-1997 Clydeport, the port services company, is in discussions to set up a property joint venture with the Bank of Scotland. 27-Aug-1997 British Airways is having to turn away business in order to reduce the number of passengers transferring between long-haul flights at Heathrow, following problems with baggage handling and delayed flights. 27-Aug-1997 General Electric of the US is setting up a 79% owned venture in the UK called Penske Logistics Europe, which plans to revolutionise the European logistics business by offering to be a single service provider for multinationals. 26-Aug-1997 Virgin is inviting bids for the construction and maintenance of 40 tilting trains for its west coast rail franchise, and the order could be worth up to £600m. 25-Aug-1997 FirstBus is bidding for a 51% stake in Bristol International Airport, but is likely to face competition for the stake from TBI and National Express. 22-Aug-1997 English Welsh & Scottish Railway is planning to acquire the rail freight operations of National Power, which uses six locomotives to transport coal and limestone to its power stations. 20-Aug-1997 Ryanair is to withdraw from the air cargo business in September, in order to focus on passenger services. 20-Aug-1997 Virgin Rail is looking into the possibility of a £250m flotation next spring. 20-Aug-1997 Angel Trains, the rail leasing company, is being prepared for sale, and possibilities include a flotation in the US or its acquisition by a UK bank. 19-Aug-1997 British Airways is cutting 450 jobs in its engineering department as fewer airlines are outsourcing their aircraft engineering work. 16-Aug-1997 EasyJet has threatened to move some of its operations to Liverpool following Luton Borough Council's rejection of its proposal to run Luton Airport. 13-Aug-1997 Stagecoach is selling its 51% stake in Stagecoach Malawi to Admarc Investment for a nominal sum. 09-Aug-1997 Hays has won a £100m contract to supply shops on BP petrol station forecourts, creating up to 500 jobs at its Milton Keynes distribution operation. 07-Aug-1997 HSBC Holding is acquiring Harwich international port from Stena Line for £72m and plans to double the size of the port and make acquisitions through higher earnings. 06-Aug-1997 Amey has acquired a 25% stake in Amey Railway Holdings from its management for £3.48m. 06-Aug-1997 London Transport is planning to introduce a sophisticated smartcard ticketing system for the Underground and buses, and is being partnered in the project by EDS, ICL, WS Atkins and Cubic Corp. 02-Aug-1997 Cowie is in discussions to acquire some small bus companies in the Netherlands, in order to give it a foothold to expand its bus and car leasing business into continental Europe. 01-Aug-1997 Ocean Group is planning to invest £300m in the acquisition of international logistics companies by the end of 1998, having sold its oil services business for £328m. 01-Aug-1997 Hays, the logistics and business services company, is planning to make more acquisitions in the near future and is bidding for two businesses put up for sale by Mayne Nickless, the Australian transport company. 31-Jul-1997 Seascope Shipping, the shipbroking group, has postponed plans to raise £4m with a listing in July due to market weakness. 31-Jul-1997 North Western Trains has ordered 27 diesel passenger trains from GEC Alsthom at a cost of £64m, with an option for an additional 50. 31-Jul-1997 Railtrack has agreed to an amendment of its licence which will give the rail industry regulator greater powers to control its investment programme, with the prospect of unlimited fines if it fails to deliver on its promises. 30-Jul-1997 TBI has withdrawn from talks to acquire Coventry airport, having failed to agree terms with Coventry City Council. 29-Jul-1997 Wiggins Group, the property developer, has acquired Kent International Airport for £4.5m. 29-Jul-1997 Railtrack and Jarvis have resolved their dispute over pricing, with Jarvis agreeing to reduce prices for certain track maintenance work. 26-Jul-1997 Railtrack has announced that it will begin discussions with the rail regulator next week about its investment plans, which include £8.3bn to renew existing infrastructure, £5.7bn for daily maintenance, and £1.9bn to increase capacity. 25-Jul-1997 English Welsh & Scottish Railway is being told by the rail regulator to give up timetable slots that it has booked but cannot use and to reduce the number of trains it operates through key junctions, in order to avoid squeezing smaller companies out of the market. 22-Jul-1997 British Airways is considering the acquisition of a 10% stake in Iberia, the Spanish carrier that is expected to be partially privatised next year, and American Airlines could take a similar stake. 19-Jul-1997 BAA is planning international expansion, and is in discussions with Newark airport in the US about operating its retail facilities. 17-Jul-1997 Thrall Car Manufacturing Company of Chicago is to reopen the former Adtranz rolling stock factory in York to make rail wagons, employing 300 people. 16-Jul-1997 The government has rejected proposals by Peel Holdings to expand Liverpool airport, and has told the property company that it should co-operate with Manchester airport for future development. 15-Jul-1997 Transdev of France has made a £41m bid for London United, the bus company, and it is also bidding for the Nottingham tramway project. 12-Jul-1997 KLM is buying the remaining 55% of Air UK, the Stansted-based carrier, from British Air Transport Holdings. 08-Jul-1997 Teesside International Airport has completed an expansion to passenger facilities and runway improvements, which will double its capacity to 800,000 passengers a year. 05-Jul-1997 BAA is acquiring Duty Free International, the US duty-free operator, for £406m in order to prepare itself for the planned abolition of duty-free sales within the EU in 1999. 04-Jul-1997 Milk Marque is to determine the effectiveness of using the railways to distribute milk, with a one-month trial running between Cumbria and London and managed by Exel Logistics Tankfreight. 01-Jul-1997 Debonair, the low-cost airline, is planning a flotation on Easdaq next month in order to raise about £22m to repay debt and increase the size of its airline fleet. 27-Jun-1997 Hogg Robinson is planning to sell its transport business in order to focus on financial services and business travel, and aims to acquire travel management companies. 26-Jun-1997 TBI's plans to buy Coventry airport have been held up by demands from the city council that it spend more on developing it. 24-Jun-1997 Railtrack is preparing plans to upgrade rail lines between Glasgow and the Channel Tunnel to enable them to take "piggyback" wagons carrying road trailers, at a cost of £250m. 23-Jun-1997 Seascope Shipping, the shipbroking concern, is planning a listing on the London stock exchange this summer in order to expand its shipping consultancy operations and reduce debt. 16-Jun-1997 EasyJet has announced plans to start flying from Luton to Geneva, Oslo and Jersey, and will triple the size of its aircraft fleet over the next two years. 14-Jun-1997 Connex South Central is having to cancel trains in Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire, because of an overtime ban by drivers. 13-Jun-1997 Transdev of France is said to be close to taking control of the London United bus company for about £50m. 13-Jun-1997 Railtrack is to start building a £12m station next month to serve Luton airport, with completion scheduled for June 1998. 12-Jun-1997 The government is to back plans for a Europe-wide tax on aviation fuel in order to limit greenhouse gas emissions. 12-Jun-1997 London United, the bus operator in south-west and central London, has been put up for sale. 12-Jun-1997 British Airways has unveiled its new livery and announced plans to spend £6bn on new services, products, facilities and training over the next three years. 11-Jun-1997 FirstBus is appealing to the government to drop its obligation to dispose of Bluebird Buses, one of its Scottish bus operators, before it wins approval to acquire Strathclyde Buses. 11-Jun-1997 Stagecoach has said it is interested in bidding for the Yellow Bus Company, which is expected to be sold by Auckland Regional Services Trust in New Zealand for about £35m. 09-Jun-1997 Rapid Transport International is planning a £120m rapid transit network in Nottingham, using gas-powered buses running on segregated track. 05-Jun-1997 NFC has sold its Lynx parcels business to management for £26m, and its BRS car lease business to GE Capital of the US for £120m, in order to focus on its core business. 05-Jun-1997 British Airways is under the threat of strikes by 9,000 ground staff, mainly at Heathrow and Gatwick, who are protesting about the contracting out of catering work. 03-Jun-1997 Metroline, the London bus company, is to float on the stock exchange this summer with a value of about £35m, raising up to £5m. 03-Jun-1997 English Welsh & Scottish Railway is launching a new high-speed freight train service which will cut the journey time between the south of England and Scotland from 12 hours to less than nine. 02-Jun-1997 Jarvis is acquiring a 50% stake in Relayfast for £4.9m, thereby adding track renewal to its railway maintenance operations. 30-May-1997 Dart Group is expanding in the air cargo market with the acquisition of two Airbus A300-B4 aircraft which it will convert into the Eurofreighter, at a cost of £19m. 30-May-1997 British Airways is selling 45% of its 14.65% stake in Galileo International, the computer reservation system that is seeking a flotation in the US. 24-May-1997 The government is referring National Express' acquisition of the ScotRail and Central Trains franchises to the Monopolies & Mergers Commission, against the advice of the OFT. 23-May-1997 National Express has awarded a £38m contract for 13 two-car trains for its Midland Mainline company to Adtranz. 23-May-1997 British Airways has sold its 18% stake in US Airways for £308m, and Goldman Sachs will now offer the stake to a range of investors. 22-May-1997 Railtrack has announced plans to spend £1bn updating most of the UK's 2,500 railway stations, with the largest amounts being spent at Paddington, Waterloo, Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley. 21-May-1997 The owner of the EasyJet airline wants to buy Luton airport, which is thought to be worth up to £100m, from the local council. 19-May-1997 Jarvis is in discussions with Relayfast about setting up a joint venture in railway infrastructure services, in order to share manpower and increase their geographical spread. 17-May-1997 Merseytravel has announced plans to set up a network of electric trolley buses in Liverpool, and the first line will be built and maintained by a consortium of Cowie and Alcatel Alsthom. 16-May-1997 South West Trains, the Stagecoach company, has awarded a £90m contract to GEC Alsthom for 30 four-car trains. 14-May-1997 National Express is linking up with Schoyen of Norway to form a joint venture called Concordia, which will act as a vehicle for acquisitions and to tender for public transport contracts in Scandinavia and Germany. 13-May-1997 Debonair, the Luton-based airline, is planning a share flotation on Easdaq by October in order to fund future development and comply with European ownership rules. 12-May-1997 National Express, GB Railways and Virgin Rail have all been shortlisted to operate Australia's three long-distance passenger train services, which are expected to be sold-off by the government for about £50m. 07-May-1997 National Express is looking to set up a joint venture with an unnamed European transport company in order to make acquisitions in Germany and Scandinavia. 02-May-1997 UK ports handled a record 551m tonnes of freight in 1996, up 3m tonnes on the previous year, according to the Department of Transport. 30-Apr-1997 Go-Ahead is acquiring Brighton Transport for £5.8m, in order to expand its operations on the south coast. 29-Apr-1997 Railtrack has announced a ten-point plan to boost rail freight, including greater capacity, higher speed links, improved terminals and investment in information systems. 18-Apr-1997 GEC Alsthom has won a £100m contract to provide and maintain eight trains for the Gatwick Express service. 15-Apr-1997 Amsterdam's Schipol airport is considering plans to build a cargo handling facility on Teesside. 14-Apr-1997 Great North Eastern Railway is launching a rail miles offer to passengers, called Excel Portfolio. 14-Apr-1997 Freightliner, the rail transport company, is planning to diversify into the market for wet and dry bulk shipments, expanding its bulk business from £2.5m to £20m. 08-Apr-1997 Jacobs Holdings is launching a new roll on-roll off ferry freight service from Dartford to Bremerhaven in Germany. 04-Apr-1997 Bristol city council is planning to partially privatise Bristol airport by selling a majority stake to a single private company. 29-Mar-1997 Thrall Car Manufacturing Company of the US is planning to open a UK plant to make 2,500 rail freight wagons over the next five years, and is looking for a suitable site. 25-Mar-1997 National Express has cut 320 staff at two of its rail franchises - Midland Mainline and Gatwick Express, while further job cuts at three other franchises are expected to follow. 21-Mar-1997 Stagecoach's South West Trains operation has been threatened with a £1m fine and the possible loss of its franchise by the government's franchising director, unless its service improves. 15-Mar-1997 Associated British Ports has been selected as preferred bidder for the port of Ipswich, and it plans to expand the port's general cargo business. 15-Mar-1997 Virgin Atlantic has ended its alliance with Delta Air Lines of the US and is going into partnership with Continental Airlines instead. 14-Mar-1997 English Welsh & Scottish Railway is to take over Railfreight Distribution, the long-distance Channel tunnel freight service, giving it a virtual monopoly on British Rail's freight businesses. 14-Mar-1997 British Airways is moving its Latin American services from Heathrow to Gatwick airport, where it will create 700 jobs. 14-Mar-1997 Cowie had said it would be interested in bidding for parts of the London Underground, but would not consider bidding for the whole network due to the high cost involved. 12-Mar-1997 The franchise for the Docklands Light Railway in London has been awarded to Docklands Railway Management, a new company set up by former managers and a company called Serco. 11-Mar-1997 Unipart has acquired Railpart (UK), the former British Rail central services business, for undisclosed terms. 07-Mar-1997 Prism Rail has awarded a £200m provisional contract for 44 new trains to Adtranz, for its London, Tilbury & Southend line. 05-Mar-1997 Go-Ahead has announced plans to expand its two rail franchises, involving more aggressive marketing and new services and fares on its Thames Trains and Thameslink operations. 01-Mar-1997 The West Midlands transport executive has announced plans for a £140m expansion of the Midland Metro tramline, currently under construction, which would double the number of passengers. 27-Feb-1997 National Express has been awarded the seven year franchise to run the Scottish rail network, and it plans to introduce 47 new three-car trains by 2000 in order to improve service frequency. 26-Feb-1997 Virgin Group is to set up a customer service and telesales centre in Edinburgh to serve its rail operations, employing an initial 250 people. 26-Feb-1997 Manchester's tram network is to be extended to the airport by 2002, at a cost of about £145m. 25-Feb-1997 The government is planning to privatise London Underground if it wins the forthcoming election. 25-Feb-1997 Birmingham airport is to undergo a £260m expansion following agreement by seven local councils to sell a 40% stake to NatWest Ventures and Aer Rianta for £42m. 22-Feb-1997 Railtrack has announced plans to invest £16bn on track, stations and signalling systems over the next ten years, in response to accusations from the rail regulator that it is not meeting its investment targets. 21-Feb-1997 London Transport is to shelve plans to invest £700m over the next three years due to a cut in government funding and cost overruns on the extension to the Jubilee Line. 20-Feb-1997 Virgin Group has won the 15-year franchise for the InterCity West Coast railway, and will invest £200m in station improvements and a telephone sales centre as part of a plan to increase ticket revenues four-fold. 20-Feb-1997 National Express has won the Central Trains franchise, which operates in East Anglia, the Midlands and Wales. 18-Feb-1997 A&P Group, the ship repair concern, is looking for a trade buyer through an international auction, following a decision not to proceed with a stock market flotation. 17-Feb-1997 Stagecoach's South West Trains is to introduce an emergency timetable due to driver shortages following 70 voluntary redundancies. 15-Feb-1997 Focal, a consortium thought to include ICF Kaiser of the US, is preparing plans for a £100m rail freight terminal near Heathrow. 14-Feb-1997 National Express has been selected as preferred bidder for Central Trains, which operates in East Anglia, the Midlands and north Wales. 12-Feb-1997 GoVia, a consortium of GTI of France and the Go-Ahead bus group, has won the franchise for the Thameslink rail network which operates between Bedford and Brighton via Gatwick. 12-Feb-1997 BAA is to acquire a 65% stake in Naples airport, subject to local approval. 12-Feb-1997 National Express has been selected as preferred bidder for ScotRail. 11-Feb-1997 NFC is in discussions to sell its Lynx parcel delivery service, which is thought to be worth up to £25m. 11-Feb-1997 British Midland is discussing a possible alliance with Lufthansa, as the German airline wants to increase its presence in the UK. 08-Feb-1997 Virgin Group has been selected as preferred bidder for the InterCity West Coast railway, and says it will invest £600m to introduce tilting trains to the route. 08-Feb-1997 P&O is negotiating a deal to take on two major port projects near Bombay in India, at a cost about $500m. 07-Feb-1997 British Airways is cutting 400 jobs at its cargo centre at Heathrow airport, as part of a cost-cutting exercise. 07-Feb-1997 Government proposals to privatise London Underground are to be announced before the forthcoming election. 07-Feb-1997 MTL Trust Holdings, the Merseyside bus company, is to be floated on the stock exchange this year. 04-Feb-1997 English Welsh & Scottish Railway is in discussions with NFC about the reintroduction of milk trains to the railway network, in order to carry milk from the south-west and Wales to London. 03-Feb-1997 London Underground may have to keep the East London Line shut for a further two years due to a cut in government funding. 31-Jan-1997 FirstBus has offered to acquire Southampton Citybus (1993). 29-Jan-1997 Stagecoach will be referred to the Monopolies Commission if it succeeds with its bid for the ScotRail franchise, according to the government. 28-Jan-1997 National Express has made a £12.5m bid for Taybus, the Dundee-based bus operator, and shareholders will be voting on the deal on February 23 1997. 27-Jan-1997 Railtrack has reached agreement with English Welsh & Scottish Railway which will give EWS a formula for calculating track access costs, thus enabling it to provide instant quotations to freight customers. 25-Jan-1997 Sema Group has been chosen as the preferred bidder for BR Business Systems, the manager of railway ticket sales and timetables. 25-Jan-1997 National Express has been selected as preferred bidder for North London Railways, which would represent its third rail franchise. 25-Jan-1997 Relayfast, the railway engineering concern, has said it has received enquiries from four companies interested in acquiring it. 24-Jan-1997 Parcelforce is to set up two new parcel handling centres in Coventry at a cost of £100m, creating 700 jobs. 23-Jan-1997 TBI, the property group, is discussing the possible acquisition of Coventry Airport from the city council. 23-Jan-1997 Railtrack has been warned by the railway regulator to speed up its investment in track, signalling and stations. 17-Jan-1997 Manchester Airport has won government approval for a £172m second runway, which will create about 7,000 jobs on site. 16-Jan-1997 BAA had a 5.5% increase in passenger numbers at its seven airports in 1996, representing a record 96.8m passengers. 15-Jan-1997 Eversholt Leasing, the railway rolling stock leasing company, may be acquired by Midland Bank's leasing subsidiary Forward Trust. 11-Jan-1997 British Airways is to launch a new corporate identity this year, but has denied accusations that it is being transformed into a "virtual airline" by contracting out most of its activities. 06-Jan-1997 The information below comes from the UK Activity Report. 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