This from the FT...
Britain’s most profitable train franchise could be taken back into state hands following a government decision to delay the auction of the West Coast service amid an overhaul of the rail system...
Virgin may have its franchise extended for the intervening nine months but, with a deal yet to be resolved, the government is considering handing the management of the service to Directly Operated Railways, the taxpayer-funded organisation that runs the East Coast line.
Eye presumes that the Competition Commission will take a close interest in one operator running both East and West Coast franchises...
UPDATE: This from Leo Pink...
Good to see the Pink 'un catching up with the story in Sunday's Observer by Dan Milmo confirming the suspension of the Intercity West Coast Franchise bidding (actually a story Eye broke last Thursday! Ed).
And even better to see that the FT stylebook still mandates the adjective 'lucrative' in the first reference to any franchise.
Sooo 1990s.
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