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Go Ahead, the company which operates the Southeastern rail franchise, is in talks with the government over extending its contract to run the line beyond the current 1 April end date.
The competition for the franchise was unexpectedly scrapped in August and a five-month extension awarded to Govia, the joint venture between Go-Ahead and Keolis, until April 2020.
Read more: No time left to appoint new firm for Southeastern franchise, says Go-Ahead
But doubts have been circling for months that the Department for Transport (DfT) does not have time to run a full competition for the franchise before it expires.
The Southeastern rail network is a key commuter line for Londoners, covering running from stations including St Pancras, London Bridge and Victoria out to Kent, and parts of east Sussex, stretching as far as Hastings and Dover.
A government-commissioned review into Britain’s rail networks, by former Royal Mail chairman Keith Williams, was expected to land before Christmas, but now appears likely to be delayed until the new year.
Meanwhile, Go Ahead reported mixed trading during the period from July to late October, with its regional bus service performing weaker than expected. That comes after it launched a new bus service in Manchester five months ago.
It said its London and international bus divisions were performing in line with expectations.
It boasted of “high levels of punctuality and customer satisfaction” across both its bus and rail divisions. It said its trains were more punctual than ever before on the Southeastern and Govia Thameslink Rail franchises, which are its two UK rail networks.
Chief executive David Brown said: “In regional bus, we continue to see growth in passenger journeys and our yield enhancement plans are beginning to deliver improvements.
Read more: Southeastern among franchises placed on public takeover watchlist
“The integration of our new bus company in Manchester, combined with cost pressures in some areas of the business, has slightly lowered our expectations for this division’s financial performance for the full year.
“In rail, I’m pleased to see the continuation of strong performance across our UK operations, delivering some of the highest levels of punctuality and customer satisfaction ever seen on these networks.”
Go Ahead shares fell 3.4 per cent in early trading.
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