Go-Ahead Group PLC (LSE:GOG) said a subsidiary has been awarded a contract worth up to £31.7mln a year by the Department of Transport to continue operating the UK’s largest railway network, just days after the government fined the company over its failures in a separate franchise.
The company’s Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) unit has been given the Department of Transport contract for the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern rail services, Go-Ahead said on Friday.
Earlier this month, Go-Ahead was fined £23.5mln by the government for an “appalling breach of trust” at its London & South Eastern Railway franchise.
The Department of Transport also ordered the public transport company to repay £64mln to taxpayers after it identified what it described as fraudulent activity dating back to 2006.
READ: Go-Ahead gets away with lower than expected fine despite 'appalling breach of trust'
The new contract starts from April and runs until at least April 2025 with the possibility of a further three-year extension.
GTR will be able to earn as much as £31.7mln a year from the agreement, subject to performance targets, though additional project fees are possible, the company said.
GTR has since 2014 operated Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern and Gatwick Express, which delivered 349mln passenger journeys a year before the COVID-19 pandemic. It also manages 235 stations in London and the south-east of England and employs 7,400 people.