Ashurst advised the bidding consortium consisting of National Express Rail GmbH and IntEgro Verkehr GmbH in connection with the awarded contract to run the rail lines, regional express train 7 (RE 7) and regional train 48 (RB 48), in North Rhine-Westphalia. Following a Europe-wide competitive tender the committee responsible for contract-awarding decided in favour of the bidding consortium on 6 February. The German branch of the British transport group National Express and the rail operator IntEgro based in Saxony will run the two lines for 15 years from December 2015. RE 7 runs between Rheine and Krefeld. RB 48 covers the route Wuppertal to Bonn.

The Ashurst team was led by partner Andreas Vogel, assisted by associate Holger Mlynek (both Energy Transport Infrastructure/ETI, Frankfurt). In addition to the tender procedure, the ETI team comprehensively advises National Express in connection with its entry into the German regional rail and long-distance coach transport market.

Ashurst's Frankfurt office was mandated as a result of longstanding contacts between the firm's  London office with the National Express holding.

http://www.ashurst.com/media-item.aspx?id_Content=8850&expandOfficeList…