AS Biss grabs lucrative Network Rail account

AS Biss clinched the brief after a competitive pitch. It is believed that Fishburn Hedges, Weber Shandwick and Dialogue Communications were shortlisted.

‘Advice on planning issues and appeals is a key area, but other services the agency will provide will be political communications, media rela­tions, communicating with our passengers and community consultation progra­m­mes,’ said a spokesman.

The company, which owns the country’s rail infrastructure, put the newly created brief up for grabs last month (PRWeek, 20 April). It wants to overhaul city stations over the next ten years.

The stations lined up for redevelopment include Eus­ton, Cannon Street and ­Victoria, which will benefit from third-party investment. King’s Cross is to get a makeover funded purely by government money, while ­Waterloo will get a mixture of public and private funding. Where stations are considered to be no longer fit for purpose, funding will come from the Department for Transport.

Investment in Euston ­Station is expected to top £1.4bn. ‘Companies can benefit from taking a proportion of the space above stations, ­either as shops, offices or housing, which means we will see a record level of investment in the coming years,’ added the spokesman.

Challenges will include working alongside partners from the private sector and communicating the implications of regeneration programmes.