Britain's most profitable rail service will be nationalised after National Express announced it would default on its operating franchise. The East Coast Main Line, the country's busiest inter-city route, will be taken into public hands for "about a year" while a new company is found to run it. Announcing the move today Lord Adonis, the Transport Secretary, said nationalisation was "highly regrettable" and stated that there would be no limit placed on the amount of taxpayer money that would be allocated to the nationalised service to ensure it continued to run as normal. Talks between the Government and National Express over the franchise, which runs the London to Edinburgh route, broke down last week. The company wanted to renegotiate the contract and this morning announced it would hand back the service to the Department of Transport when its funding runs out later this year.
Britain's most profitable rail service will be nationalised after National Express announced it would default on its operating franchise.
The East Coast Main Line, the country's busiest inter-city route, will be taken into public hands for "about a year" while a new company is found to run it.
Announcing the move today Lord Adonis, the Transport Secretary, said nationalisation was "highly regrettable" and stated that there would be no limit placed on the amount of taxpayer money that would be allocated to the nationalised service to ensure it continued to run as normal.
Talks between the Government and National Express over the franchise, which runs the London to Edinburgh route, broke down last week. The company wanted to renegotiate the contract and this morning announced it would hand back the service to the Department of Transport when its funding runs out later this year.
