Call to delay FirstGroup rail franchise contract

THE HEAD of the UK parliament’s transport committee has called on the government to delay signing a contract for FirstGroup to run Britain’s premier rail route instead of Virgin Trains so the panel can investigate the deal.

“This franchise will affect millions of passengers and last for up to 15 years,” Louise Ellman said in a statement yesterday.

“A great deal of public and private money is at stake. I have no fixed view on the matter and no preference for any of the bidders. My wish is simply to bring greater transparency to the process.”

The British department for transport said on August 15th it was awarding the franchise for the West Coast line, operated by Virgin since 1997, to FirstGroup for at least 13 years in a deal generating £5.5 billion (€6.94 billion) for the government.

Ms Ellman said she had written to British transport secretary Justine Greening asking her to delay the signing planned for August 28th.

Virgin founder Richard Branson responded to the franchise award by announcing he would quit the British rail business, describing the decision as “insanity” that could end in bankruptcy.

The RMT rail union said the winning tender, worth more than Virgin’s, was based on a “massive cuts plan” that it would oppose.

The decision excluded Mr Branson from the UK rail industry for the first time since its privatisation.

He said he made a “strong and deliverable” offer for the West Coast line, which transports 31 million people a year between London and the cities of Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester.

A petition on the government’s website calling for the franchise award to be looked at again has attracted more than 100,000 signatures, meaning it will be considered by lawmakers for discussion in the House of Commons.

“I think we must debate the issue in parliament,” Tim Farron, president of the Liberal Democrats, said in a post on Twitter.

“We’re hoping for a delay in the process to give parliament and the select committee time to scrutinise this decision and maybe for the department to go over their sums,” Ken Gibbs, a spokesman for Virgin Trains in London, said. – (Bloomberg)