Government team in place to run West Coast Main Line [Telegraph]
Date: 19/09/2012
The Department for Transport has been forced to prepare for the temporary nationalisation of the route, because of the Virgin Trains legal challenge to the decision to hand over the franchise to FirstGroup. Known as the West Coast Main Line Mobilisation Team, the officials will be ready to step in on December 9 to make sure trains keep running on the route, which runs from Euston to Scotland. Some members are already in place and recruitment is under way to put together a team of around 30. The move was described as a “contingency measure” by a spokesman for Directly Operated Railways (DOR), the Government-owned company that already runs the East Coast Main Line from King’s Cross to Aberdeen. Should DOR take over West Coast as well, it would leave the Government running two of the three major long distance rail routes at the end of the year. [From Mark Bartlett]
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A team of officials has been put in place to run the West Coast Main Line on behalf of the Government, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
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Tags: x Virgin Trains
