Virgin Trains, a group company belonging to Sir Richard
Branson, will appeal to the MPs in the UK to resolve the West Coast mainline
case.
Virgin Trains is aiming to legally challenge Government’s
decision to award the London to Manchester route to First Group. Virgin has
stressed that it cannot afford its £5.5billion bid for the project. Sir Richard
Branson will use the hearing before the MPs to convince them that the system
does not allow firms to run services at a profit and taxpayers money is then
used to meet the gaps.
Due to the legal challenge posed by Virgin Trains, First
Group is not likely to receive keys to the line on 9 December for the 14-year
contract. Virgin had offered to run the line free of cost until the matter is
resolved. However, some leaders might be considering the option of
nationalizing the line on a temporary basis.
The leaders have raised concerns about how the decision to
change the franchise would affect fares and levels of service on the route. The
remarks comes after Louise Ellman, the chairman of the House of Commons
transport committee wrote to transport secretary, Justine Greening urging for a
delay in signing of the final contract until important issues are discussed.
More than 100,000 members of the public have signed a petition
against the decision and it is also being supported by several celebrities
including host of TV show The Apprentice, Lord Sugar, and celebrity chef Jamie
Oliver.
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