Govia is a joint venture between the Go-Ahead Group (65%) and Keolis (35%), two substantial and successful transport companies in their own right. Govia has extensive experience running complex and challenging rail operations, managing significant change programmes, and it has introduced more new train fleets in the UK than any other operator.
Govia currently runs two major rail franchises: GTR (Govia Thameslink Railway) and Southeastern. Govia is one of the UK’s busiest rail operators, currently providing c.25% of all passenger journeys.
Established in 1987, The Go-Ahead Group has its roots in the North East where it was formed following de-regulation of the bus industry. Ten years later, with rail privatisation, the company entered into partnership with Keolis and began running the Thameslink franchise as Govia. It has run Southern since 2001 (in 2015 this was integrated into the GTR franchise), Southeastern since 2006, London Midland from 2007 to 2017, and GTR since 2014. Go-Ahead has a turnover of £3,481 billion and some 27,000 employees.