No U-turn on rail franchise says minister despite row
Transport secretary Justine Greening today confirmed the contract for the West Coast mainline would go to FirstGroup – with a deal expected to be signed tomorrow.
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Her decision to ignore calls to put the process on hold came as rival firm Virgin said it would have brought back a direct link between Shropshire and London a year earlier than FirstGroup.
FirstGroup announced plans to introduce a direct rail link between Shropshire and London from 2016.
But officials at Virgin said they would have brought back a single service to the capital by the end of 2014, with three trains running every day from 2016.
More than 150,000 people have signed a petition calling for a U-turn on the decision.
