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A joint venture between France's Keolis and Spanish-owned Amey has won the £5bn contract to run Wales' rail services for the next 15 years.
The BBC has learned the Keolis/Amey bid has triumphed over a rival offer from Hong Kong's MTR commuter railways.
Arriva, the transport company which has run the Wales and Borders franchise for the last 15 years, pulled out of the running in December.
An official announcement of the winner is expected on Wednesday morning.
The outcome of the contest has been keenly anticipated in Wales.
The new franchise will not only run existing services, but oversee the South Wales Metro, including the introduction of new electrified services on to some key valley routes. Some estimates say that the total value of the contract over its 15-year life will be about £5bn.
Powers to decide who runs services on the Wales and Borders network were due to be devolved earlier this year, but now may not be handed to the Welsh Government until 2018.
The decision continues the trend of foreignand often state-owned or controlledcompanies running Britain's rail network.
Keolis is France's largest private sector public transport operatorbut it is three-quarters owned by SNCF, the French state railway.
Amey was a listed UK company until it suffered a Carillion-style collapse 15 years ago. It was then bought by the Spanish infrastructure giant Ferrovial, which is the key shareholder and manager of Heathrow airport.