Operator of Last Resort

When National Express East Coast is brought back under state control the franchise will be run by the "Operator of Last Resort".

DafT put out an OJEU inviting organisations to bid for this role several months ago.

The contract is currently held by First Class Partnerships and was retendered, as is standard practice, after five years.

As yet there has been no announcement from the Department on whether FCP have retained the contract or a new supplier appointed.

The initial OJEU specified that any Operator of Last Resort should be able to run up to two franchises concurrently.

This was subsequently pulled and reissued with the requirement to operate six franchises concurrently.

What could DafT have had in mind?