Rail group Grand Central's new services to the North could be delayed as the company faces a race against time to lease the trains it needs.

Services between London and Sunderland were due to begin on December 10 after a protracted battle to win a licence for the route.

But the company has yet to sign a deal to get the rolling stock to run the service to bridge a gap until late 2007 when its own trains will be ready for use.

Passenger groups in Sunderland last night expressed disappointment at the potential delay, after lobbying hard for Grand Central to win the licence in the face of bitter opposition from East Coast Main Line operator GNER.

Grand Central had initially proposed to lease rolling stock from the Midlands. But the Department for Transport said that agreement would be able to run only until next year, in case bidders for the new East Midland franchise needed the trains, throwing the long-term future of the Sunderland route into doubt.

The company has managed to buy rolling stock from Porterbrook Leasing, but it will not be ready until late next year. The DfT has sanctioned leasing trains as an interim measure, but despite talks this week, no deal has yet been reached.

Grand Central said last night it hoped to make an announcement on its start date next week.

Managing director Ian Yeowart said: "December has always been a challenge because of the GNER court case. We were told in January we had the licence, but it wasn't confirmed until late August.

"It's not through any fault of our own we're here at this stage. We've been delayed by other people's actions. We will do everything possible to start our trains on December 10, but if we can't, we can't. We don't want to shoot ourselves in the foot by starting something that's not ready."

The deal with Porterbrook means trains will definitely be running by the December 2007 deadline required by the Rail Regulator.

Sunderland councillor and spokesman for lobby group Railfuture Peter Wood said: "It isn't easy in the market to find the trains you want, particularly as you can't commit yourself until you've got approval to run a service, so it's not entirely surprising there's a possible delay.

"It would be disappointing. We're all geared up for this. The battle went on long enough and we seemed to come out victorious.

"But we're used to delays in the transport system. We can wait a little bit longer, but the sooner, the better."