‘Grayling misled Parliament over Stagecoach rail ban’

SHUT DOWN Chris Grayling TRANSPORT Secretary Chris Grayling misled Parliament over the latest East Coast rail franchise fiasco, Labour claimed last night.

Mr Grayling originally said last year the franchise, jointly run by Stagecoach and Virgin, would end three years early, in 2020.

But on Monday he told MPs more urgent action was needed and Stagecoach would continue for “a small number of months and no more”, after breaching its contract. This could mean a takeover by the Transport Department. But he went on to say there were no “adequate legal grounds” to stop Stagecoach from bidding for a new East Midlands franchise contract.

Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary Andy McDonald was adamant he was wrong on this.

He said: “The Secretary of State should have and could have banned Stagecoach from the rail industry for defaulting on its contract.

“His claim that there is ‘no record’ of any previous ban is wrong. Labour banned National Express in 2009 and he should have done the same. Chris Grayling should apologise to Parliament and retract his statement.”

The cost to taxpayers of the collapse of the Virgin-branded route will be higher than the £2billion initially feared, because the Treasury will miss out on another annual payment.

“By cancelling the franchise even earlier than planned, the government have added another £380million to the bailout,” Mr McDonald added. The Department for Transport said: “Services on the East Coast Main Line have delivered significant returns to the taxpayer.”