Martin Griffiths, chief executive of Stagecoach, said: “The secretary of state has said [East Coast Partnership] would be a more joined-up railway between the public and private sector. A rail strategy published by the transport secretary, Chris Grayling, last week revealed that from 2020 an East Coast Partnership would replace the Stagecoach-Virgin franchise contract, which was due to expire in 2023. Griffiths said the firm wwas likely to bid to continue running the East Coast under Grayling’s proposed partnership model. “[Grayling] has announced that he’s got a different vision for railway post 2020, part of that includes the East Coast. He claimed that FirstGroup – which was shortlisted for the East Coast line – could use the precedent to seek a way out of another struggling franchise.

Source: The Guardian December 06, 2017 18:33 UTC