No complaints from Virgin until it lost, says First

FIRST Group says it has “every confidence” in the Department for Transport’s franchise bid process after Virgin applied for a judicial review into the way the West Coast InterCity decision was handled.

The move by Virgin forced the Department for Transport to postpone a contract signing with First Group which was awarded the franchise earlier in the month.

First is due to start running the service in December.

In a statement it said: “We have every confidence in the DfT’s process which is rigorous, detailed and fair and in which bids are thoroughly tested.

“There has been no complaint about the process, which was carefully described in advance, until Virgin Rail Group had lost commercially.”

The High Court should decide if there are grounds for a review within two weeks. A formal review could take up to three months.