National Express Rail GmbH, the German rail arm of British public transport company National Express Group, has received a rail contract valued at €1bn in Germany.

Under the contract, National Express will operate the RE1 and RE11 Rhein-Ruhr-Express (RRX) lines up to 2033.

Via an emergency contract award, the company assumed the operation of the two lines in February last year.

With the new contract, National Express now runs all three asset light RRX lots under long-term contracts.

National Express stated that “the award of this contract establishes the company as the second largest rail transport company in the region, delivering an anticipated 20 million train kilometres in 2023.”

National Express Group CEO Ignacio Garat said: “To have secured this contract on the back of an emergency contract award is testament to our operational excellence and the strength of our proposition in Germany.

“It is also clear evidence of our Evolve strategy in action, and we look forward to making further progress in realising similar asset-light opportunities across the Company.”

National Express Group, an international public transport operator, has operations in North America, continental Europe, the UK and North Africa.

The company holds the largest market share for long-haul coach transport in Spain and the UK. It also manages urban bus and transit operations in the US, Canada, Morocco, Spain, Ireland and the UK, and rail operations in Germany.