Sturgeon challenges Souter over rail deal

NICOLA Sturgeon yesterday squared up to one of the SNP’s most prominent donors.

The First Minister claimed Brian Souter’s company has ‘serious questions’ to answer after ‘failing’ to deliver on a key rail contract.

The joint Stagecoach and Virgin contract to run the East Coast Mainline franchise will end earlier than expected after the UK Government claimed the firm ‘got its numbers wrong’.

UK Transport Secretary Chris Grayling revealed Mr Souter’s company would continue to run the London to Edinburgh route line for ‘a small number of months and no more’ – and said that the Government may be forced to take over the service.

Stagecoach and Virgin signed a deal to run the East Coast line from 2015 to 2023, promising to pay the Government £3.3billion to run the service.

Yesterday Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Alex ColeHamilton quizzed Miss Sturgeon over her ‘silence’ on the rail franchise, despite it being one of the main lines from Scotland to London.

During First Minister’s Question time at Holyrood he called on her ‘to finally strip’ Stagecoach of the franchise and to rule them out of future public contracts.

Miss Sturgeon said: ‘That franchise is not one that the Scottish Government is a party to.

‘I agree serious questions undoubtedly have to be asked of the operator, but also of the UK Government.’

Stagecoach founder Mr Souter was a major donor of the SNP under Alex Salmond’s leadership, giving the party more than £2.5million in eight years.

He also donated around £200,000 to Yes supporting campaign groups during the 2014 Scottish independence campaign.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said: ‘Nicola Sturgeon should be pressing the UK Government’s transport minister to exclude Stagecoach from the shortlist for further contracts of this kind.

‘We need to know companies can deliver the critical contracts they are given.

‘The First Minister is not usually shy when it comes to asking the UK Government to change course, but for some reason has done nothing in terms of pressing the UK Government on the operation of one of the major transport arteries to and through Scotland.

‘I find her silence on this baffling.’

A spokesman for Stagecoach last night said that the firm had met ‘in full our contractual commitment’ and had delivered a ‘better railway for customers and the country’.