Passengers ‘to start seeing benefits immediately’ from new East Coast Mainline operator

RAIL minister Claire Perry visited Leeds station yesterday to talk up the benefits for passengers that she says will result from Stagecoach and Virgin taking over the operation of the East Coast Mainline.

The joint bid will pay £3.3bn over the eight-year period, which was selected after an 18-month tender period of stress testing and analysis.

Mrs Perry expects passengers “will start to see benefits immediately” when the consortium, Inter City Railways, takes over the running of the line early next year.

She said: “We have come up with a great deal, two great British companies both with a good track record in this industry, committing £140m over the life of the franchise.

“There’s a commitment from the two operators to keep investing in the stations – there will be much more customer service capabilities in the stations and new cycle racks in many of the stations on the route.”

She argued that prices will stay reasonable because people have a choice on their method of transport.

“These are really competitive rail lines, we know nine out of 10 passengers on this route have a choice as to whether they drive or go by bus or take the train,” she said.

“You can’t run a competitive railway without having decent pricing and crucially giving people value for money.”

Mrs Perry also sought to minimise concerns about profiteering, with a process in place for the taxpayer to benefit.

She added: “We have a clawback mechanism on the profitability side so we are keen for the private companies to have a fair return from the business but not excessive returns.