Partner Article

Rail route to be 'improved'

The Government has promised improved services on a key London to Scotland rail route, which runs through the North East, as it is taken back into public ownership.

There will be £12 million worth of station improvements on the East Coast Main Line, which is being handed back to the Department for Transport by franchise holder National Express.

There will also be improved catering and the abolition of reservation charges on the line which will be run for the next two years by a public company called East Coast.

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said: “East Coast will remain in public hands for two years and there will be full continuity of service. But this is not a care and maintenance job. I want to see real improvements in the service and better value for money.

“East Coast staff have real pride in their jobs: they want to offer a fantastic service, and the new company will give them the tools for the job.

“This is a profitable railway - it needs to be the pride of its passengers and staff too and that’s my aim for East Coast.”

Saddled with huge £1.3 billion premiums it had to pay to the Government over the lifetime of the franchise, National Express announced last July that it would only fund its East Coast operation for a few more months.

Lord Adonis said then that the line would be taken back into the public sector when National Express’s funding ceased.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .