Branson denies rail bailout claims

Sir Richard Branson has hit back at critics who say the UK government bailed out Virgin Group and its partner in the East Coast rail franchise.

In November, the government allowed Virgin and Stagecoach to withdraw from running the service three years early.

Lord Adonis, the former chairman of the National Infrastructure Commission, said the move could eventually cost the taxpayer billions of pounds.

But yesterday Sir Richard revealed the deal had cost Virgin and Stagecoach £100 million.

In 2014, Virgin and Stagecoach signed a deal to run the East Coast line until 2023, promising the government £3.3bn in pre- miums. Sir Richard said at the time the two companies had been promised a huge upgrade of the tracks by Network Rail, which would have improved reliability and allowed more passengers to be carried by the.

Sir Richard said he and his partners had not benefitted from the government’s move, but had lost “well over £100m in total” without receiving a penny in dividends.