West Coast bidders to address MPs amid nationalisation reports

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MPs are preparing to grill Virgin and First Group bosses later today, amid reports that the Government is preparing to nationalise the service.

Virgin’s founder Sir Richard Branson and First Group chief executive Tim O’Toole will state their case in front of the Transport Select Committee this afternoon after the West Coast franchise was controversially awarded to First in August.

The committee will be chaired by Louise Ellman MP, who had urged former Transport Secretary Justine Greening to delay awarding the franchise to First Group until the Transport Select Committee had been given chance to scrutinise the bids.

Branson is expected to argue that First Group’s bid is ‘unrealistic’ and ‘undeliverable’.

After losing control of the route, Virgin, who have operated services on the line since 1997, backed an online petition supporting the company’s bid to retain the franchise.

In just a few days, more than 100,000 signed the e-petition urging ministers to reconsider their decision.

A report in The Sunday Times newspaper has suggested that the Government is now considering nationalising the route after a legal challenge by Virgin delayed the handover to First Group.

General secretary of the rail union RMT Bob Crow said: “We are calling on the Government today to end the West coast fiasco and to hand the franchise to DOR putting the UK’s two main rail routes back in public hands where they belong.

“That would represent a massive victory for RMT’s 20-year campaign to renationalise our railways. The farce on the West Coast could prove to be a turning point in how we run transport services in this country.”

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