East Coast Main Line ‘could stay public for two years’
Sep 29 2009 The Journal
But he rejected calls for the franchise to stay in public hands for an even longer period as a “comparator” to other private rail operators because it would not raise as much cash for the taxpayer.
That is despite critics arguing that National Express’s £1.4bn deal to win the franchise was behind its failure.
On high-speed rail, Lord Adonis said it would not have been possible to move any faster on developing proposals. He said the Government had been “agnostic” about new high-speed links when it published its long-term rail blueprint two years ago, although that changed when he became a transport minister a year ago and made it his “big project”.
A company called High Speed Two will report at the end of December.
He refused to give any indication about whether the North East would be included in the initial route.
“We don’t have a plan yet so I am still waiting for the plan from High Speed Two, but we did say in our remit to the High Speed Two that we wanted a plan that would improve connectivity to London and the West Midlands, the North West, West Yorkshire and the North East,” Lord Adonis said.
