Disclaimer :

The Competition DG makes the information provided by the notifying parties in section 1.2 of Form CO available to the public in order to increase transparency. This information has been prepared by the notifying parties under their sole responsibility, and its content in no way prejudges the view the Commission may take of the planned operation. Nor can the Commission be held responsible for any incorrect or misleading information contained therein.

SECTION 1.2

Description of the concentration

On 11 February 2015, the Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulations (EC) No. 139/2004 by which the undertaking Abellio Scotrail Limited, a subsidiary of Abellio Transport Holding BV (Abellio), will take sole control over the operation of the Scotrail franchise currently operated by First Scotrail Limited. This follows Abellio Scotrail Limited being successful in the procurement conducted by the Scottish Ministers to award the Scotrail franchise contract for the provision of passenger services on the rail network in Scotland.

Abellio is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dutch Railways, Nederlandse Spoorwegen (“NS”) which is the major rail operator in the Netherlands. Abellio operates a number of passenger railway concessions or franchise contracts outside the Netherlands, in particular in the UK, Germany and Sweden. In the UK, its subsidiaries currently operate the Merseyrail concession and the Northern franchise (both jointly with Serco Group plc) as well as the Greater Anglia franchise.

The Scotrail franchise is a large and complex transport system providing inter-city, regional and suburban rail services on the rail network in Scotland. The franchise provides passenger train services throughout Scotland, serving the cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness, Aberdeen, Stirling, Dundee and Perth, along with the rest of the country.