National Express hits back at Branson takeover claim

Feb 5 2009 by William Green, The Journal

SIR Richard Branson was yesterday accused of "mischief making" by rail operator National Express after suggesting he could take over its East Coast train franchise.

Senior National Express executive Paul Bunting spoke out as he was grilled by MPs about Wednesday’s front-page Journal story that his firm was struggling with its £1.4bn deal agreed with ministers and Sir Richard’s Virgin Trains was ready to step in.

But he refused to answer detailed questions ahead of the company providing a market update within weeks and warned nobody could look forward to any job security for "any length of time" at the moment.

Mr Bunting and rail bosses from First and Virgin Trains also faced claims of "fleecing" passengers over soaring fares when they appeared before the Commons transport committee.

The train chiefs insisted many cheap fares were available and denied making excessive profits, but came under fire for being unable to say which tickets had risen the most. And Mr Bunting refused to reveal how much money National Express makes from passengers on the East Coast Main Line, which link the North with London and Scotland.

He admitted it seemed "anomalous" that decisions to raise prices last month were based on much higher inflation figures from last July, but insisted it was down to the process of calculating the cost of millions of fares.

The rail executive came under pressure over the future of East Coast services from committee member David Clelland, Labour MP for Tyne Bridge.

"I wondered if Mr Bunting had seen this morning’s Newcastle Journal which has an article about projected problems that there might be in the franchise for the East Coast Line and suggesting that Richard Branson might have an interest in taking it on," said Mr Clelland.

Mr Bunting, his company’s marketing boss, said: "I think Richard Branson gave a personal view, which his company has refuted.

"So I think we will just put that one down to Richard’s style."

He added: "That is just a little bit of mischief making there from our friends at Virgin."

Improved services would still go ahead with the East Coast franchise in good health, said Mr Bunting.

He said: "We are seeing growth, our customer satisfaction levels are rising, our punctuality levels are rising. We have real confidence with the franchise."

The row came as one of the country’s biggest train companies sparked anger by announcing plans to axe another 180 jobs on top of 480 previously announced cuts.

South West Trains said the new cuts will include revenue protection staff, ticket office and station employees as well as further management and administrative positions.