Connex was stripped of its south east franchise in June this year

Four companies have been picked to bid for the franchise which is to provide services to Kent, south east London and parts of Sussex from early 2005.

DSB (Danish State Railways), GNER Holdings Ltd, First Kent Integrated Railways Ltd and London South Eastern Railway Ltd are bidding for the Kent franchise.

The SRA stripped French firm Connex of the service in June this year, because of poor financial management.

Since then, the SRA has run the network via a wholly-owned subsidiary, South Eastern Trains.

High-speed trains

The SRA is also set to place an order for a fleet of new trains to operate on high-speed domestic services in Kent along the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL).

The high-speed services are expected to start in 2007 as part of the new, integrated franchise.

The �1.9bn, 46-mile first half of the CTRL opened in September.

Consultation is still under way over which towns in Kent will benefit from the CTRL domestic services to London.

Timetables planned

In an extra statement, the SRA said that FirstGroup Plc, the preferred bidder for a new two-year Thames Trains franchise in the south east of England, would introduce a new timetable from December 2004.

FirstGroup beat Go-Ahead to win control of the Thames Trains franchise

FirstGroup currently operates Great Western, Great Eastern and North Western franchises, while Go-Ahead runs Thameslink and South Central services.

The Thames Trains franchise covers commuter routes through the Thames Valley into London Paddington station and services between Stratford-upon-Avon and Gatwick Airport.

Bus and train operator

In Eastern England, the bus and train operator, National Express, has been picked as the preferred bidder for the new Greater Anglia franchise.

The Greater Anglia franchise was the first to be awarded under a new SRA policy which set out clearer requirements for passenger services.

If specified performance targets are met, the seven-year franchise will run for an additional three years, the SRA has said.

The Strategic Rail Authority has said that having one operator at London Liverpool Street station "makes good sense in operational and passenger service terms."