GHD supports Arriva’s success as it retains London Overground concession

One of the world’s leading engineering, architecture, environmental and construction services companies, GHD, has supported Arriva UK Trains in its successful bid for the London Overground concession.

Arriva currently operates London Overground as part of a joint venture with MTR, but this success means it will become the sole operator from 13 November 2016.

Gareth Powell, Transport for London’s Chief Operating Officer, London Rail, said: “We have worked hard to deliver major improvements for our customers, taking a neglected part of the transport network and transforming it to support new homes, jobs and economic growth across the capital. Arriva will build on this by extending operating hours, improving frequencies and introducing new trains.”

GHD provided a major part of the foundation for the bid, carrying out early analysis in areas such as socio-economic benefits, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), assessment and planning for infrastructure schemes, ticketing, revenue protection and passenger experience. This then continued into the main bid with particular focus on the customer experience and passenger satisfaction. 

Steve Curtis, GHD’s Manager Transport Strategy and Planning, says, “This is fantastic news, and follows hot on the heels of another significant success for Arriva in winning the Northern franchise. Passenger satisfaction has been transformed on London Overground over the past decade, and was one of the key benchmarks set by Transport for London in this concession competition. Our analysis shows this trend will continue to improve over the life of the concession, further strengthening the view of London Overground as a world class railway. We are delighted with the result and congratulate Arriva on this achievement.”

John Dutton, GHD’s UK Transport Director, says, “This is another great win for the Arriva Team and we at GHD are very pleased to have played a part in this second successful bid.”