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Eversheds Sutherland advises the Department for Transport on the transfer for Southeastern rail services

  • Global
  • United Kingdom

    26-10-2021

    On the right track

    Eversheds Sutherland’s rail team has advised the Department for Transport in relation to the successful appointment of its in-house Operator of Last Resort to take over operation of Southeastern rail services from London & South Eastern Railway Limited.

    Southeastern is a large UK rail project employing 4,000 workers serving 180 stations with almost 400 trains. The Government has taken over running the service after an investigation found that the rail operator did not declare more than £25m of historic taxpayer funding, in what the Government considers, on the basis of the evidence available, to be a “serious breach” of the franchise agreement.

    The Operator of Last Resort, SE Trains Limited, was successfully appointed at 02.00am on Sunday 17 October 2021.

    A large, cross-practice team from Eversheds Sutherland advised the Department for Transport throughout the process, providing transport, commercial, employment, data & cybersecurity, and competition support.

    Agnes Koko, Partner in Eversheds Sutherland’s rail team, commented:

    “Appointing an Operator of Last Resort is an incredibly complex process. This project required absolute commitment from the team, who worked in an extremely efficient manner to support the process and ensure a seamless transfer of services, and cause minimal disruption as possible to the tens of thousands of passengers using the network on a daily basis.”

    Eversheds Sutherlands rail team was led by Agnes Koko with support on various aspects of the project from Anne Harris, Consultant; Mark Brunton, Partner; Mike Turner, Principal Associate; Will Spickett, Principal Associate, Andy Bell, Principal associate, Maddy Kanaujia, Senior Associate; Markos Day, Associate. They were aided by colleagues across the firm including Tom Bray, Partner; Richard Matthews, Partner; Mark Latimour, Partner; Lesley Farrell, Partner; Philip James, Partner; Lorna Doggett, Legal Director; Vanessa Challenger, Principal Associate; Elizabeth Coleman, Principal Associate; John Inglese, Senior Associate; Varun Shingari, Senior Associate; Katie Woodcock, Associate; Alvin Au, Associate; Winnie Ma, Associate; Jawad Khan, Associate; and Owen Jones, Associate.

    Agnes Koko, Partner

    This information is for guidance purposes only and should not be regarded as a substitute for taking legal advice. Please refer to the full terms and conditions on our website.

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