The Board of Rock Rail East Anglia Plc welcomed guests from a number of the parties involved in the deal including Abellio, Aviva, Barings and DC Advisory, to celebrate receiving PFI’s 2016 ‘European Rail Deal of the Year’ award at The Hilton, Park Lane on February 1st.
The award follows the closure of the deal for the funding and supply of trains worth over £700 million on the East Anglia franchise in October 2016. The deal between train operating company Abellio East Anglia and Rock Rail will deliver the 378 EMU and Bi-mode vehicles for the Norwich to London InterCity route, the Stansted Express and for important regional services in East Anglia.
The innovative deal saw project sponsor Rock Rail bringing together both UK and international institutional investors together with the European Investment Bank to provide the senior debt in what is seen as a game changing approach to the funding of UK rolling stock.
In a sector that has not seen much evolution in recent years, Rock’s approach is set to deliver significantly better value for money for the government, operators, investors and passengers alike.
