Franchise winner for rail route tipped to run HS2

THE winner of the next franchise to run the West Coast Main Line (WCML) will also be given the chanxe to operate the first high-speed trains on the HS2 line, it has been claimed.

It has been reported the Department for Transport does not want the two lines competing with one another when the high-speed route opens in 2026.

Instead, the successful bidder for the new West Coast London to Glasgow franchise will be also invited to run services between London and Birmingham after HS2’s first branch is complete.

The next WCML franchise, currently run by Virgin Trains, is expected to go out to tender next month, with the winning bidder taking over in 2018 for ten years.

A source told The Times: “It is more likely the West Coast line and HS2 will be combined into a West Coast corridor partnership. What is wanted is co-operation not competition.”

Virgin Trains, which also runs the East Coast Main Line in a consortium with Perth-based Stagecoach, is expected to bid again for the WCML, with former ScotRail operator FirstGroup a likely challenger.

FirstGroup was previously selected to take over the lucrative WCML franchise from Virgin in August 2012, but the deal was scrapped weeks later when “significant technical flaws” were identified in the Department for Transport (DfT) scoring system.

A spokesman for the DfT said: “We are carefully considering all options for how HS2 and the intercity West Coast line will be managed to ensure passengers have choice wherever possible and the public get the