Arriva, First Group, Stagecoach and National Express have decided not to pursue a lawsuit against the government to recover lost bidding costs from the cancellation of the Great Western franchise.
The companies began legal proceedings on March 1 in an attempt to claw back a total £40 million spent chasing the franchise.
A decision was taken to abandon the Great Western competition in January to avoid making similar errors to those which led to the failures with the West Coast Mainline.
Proceedings were postponed to allow further discussions with the DfT but they have now been cancelled following an announcement by the government rescheduling the start of the Great Western franchise for July 2016.
A Stagecoach Group spokesman said: “We are not pursuing the issue further and we consider the matter closed.
“Our focus is firmly on looking forward to support moves to get franchising back on track and deliver the planned extensions to our franchises announced by the Transport Secretary earlier this week.”
“Following the stay in proceedings we have considered the DfT’s response and have decided not to pursue the matter further,” a spokesman for Arriva added.
