Newcastle-based bus and rail group Go-Ahead Group said in a trading update on Thursday it is confident it will deliver full year results that are slightly ahead of its previous expectations.

Go-Ahead Group CEO David Brown, said: “In a challenging market environment with reduced retail footfall and pressures on local authority budgets, our businesses have performed well overall.

“In bus, our London operations have seen an improvement in service performance resulting in higher Quality Incentive Contract income.

“Revenue and passenger trends remain mixed across our regional bus businesses.

“In rail, trading has been good in the period, largely due to efficiency improvements and helped by the resumption of full Southeastern services through London Bridge station.

“In partnership with the industry, this week we began the introduction of the largest timetable change in decades.

“The modernisation of the network will lead to new routes, greater connectivity and increased peak frequency through central London with the new technology of automatic train operation.

“As part of our strategy to develop for the future of transport, we announced the UK’s largest demand responsive trial of high-quality minibuses in Oxford – called ‘Pick Me Up’ – which will begin operating next month.

“Passengers will use an app to route journeys according to their needs.

“We are also working with logistics partners including a pilot at our Crawley depot to manage deliveries in the area.

“The board is confident the group will deliver full year results that are slightly ahead of its previous expectations.”