GNER in line for another 10 years

The company which runs the East Coast Mainline, Britain's flagship rail route, today won the concession to operate it for another 10 years.

GNER, a subsidiary of James Sherwood's Sea Containers, fought off competition from Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Trains and Stagecoach.

The franchise is the first to have delivery standards, including an improvement in timekeeping, built in.

Figures show that one in four GNER services is late, although those for October to December last year show a slight improvement over the same period in 2003.

GNER, which operates services from King's Cross to Scotland, will pay the Government ?1.28billion to operate the service until 2015 and has agreed to invest ?125million on updating stock, station improvements and security.

The company will also take on 60 new staff, dispelling claims by the rail unions that the only way that it could fund a winning bid would be to cut about 10 per cent of its 3,500-strong workforce.