Troubled rail operator National Express may carry on

Jul 15 2009 By William Green, The Journal

CONFUSION surrounds the East Coast rail franchise after a minister admitted troubled operator National Express could continue running services.

Junior Transport Minister Chris Mole yesterday said it was "theoretically" possible National Express could keep the prestigious franchise despite his boss Lord Adonis saying otherwise.

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis announced on July 1 the franchise would be nationalised before being relet within 18 months because the firm would not provide financial support to avoid defaulting on its contract. National Express promised £1.4bn to the Government after winning the contract, based on strong revenue growth, but has been hit by the recession.

Mr Mole’s admission comes after National Express boss Ray O’Toole insisted there was a possibility of the company continuing services next year if the economy recovered.

And The Journal can reveal the Department for Transport (DfT) does not have a precise date when a new publicly owned company would take over running of East Coast services.

Tickets sales over the summer will decide when the current franchise is torn up – which would come after the previous operator GNER proved unable to run trains in 2006.

Tory transport spokesman Stephen Hammond said the situation was "unclear" despite that impacting directly on passengers and taxpayers.

"That service will come under pressure unless the Government starts clarifying some of these issues," he added. And MPs – including Berwick’s Sir Alan Beith – yesterday demanded East Coast trains be run by the public sector for up to 15 years as a "comparator" with the rest of the privately run rail network.