Virgin Trains on track to run West Coast Main Line for longer

Virgin Trains looks set to continue running services on the West Coast Main Line for another four years.

moreThe company had lost out to rival transport company FirstGroup for a new West Coast franchise last year but the deal was torn up after mistakes were made in the calculations and blamed on civil servants.

Under a new franchise timetable announced by Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin today, a new West Coast franchise will not start until April 2017, with Virgin now negotiating with the DfT over continuing until then.

The move means it is highly unlikely that the rail company will invest in the proposed £96 million rebuild of Wolverhampton rail station, leaving Wolverhampton City Council still at least £15m short of funding to get the work started.

The announcement comes as passengers were warned of disruptions, with all services between Birmingham and Wolverhampton stopping from tomorrow afternoon for engineering work.

FirstGroup was awarded the £13 billion, 13-year deal in August but Virgin launched a legal challenge. Virgin owner Sir Richard Branson was prepared to go all the way to High Court before the Department for Transport owned up to "significant technical flaws" in the contract.

It led to the suspension of three civil servants and the deal being halted, with taxpayers now facing a compensation bill of up to £100m.

Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has acknowledged that Wolverhampton's rail station is "awful" and needs work but could not commit to funding. With only a short-term franchise Virgin is unlikely to want to put in much money.

Mr McLoughlin said: "This programme is a major step in delivering tangible improvements to services, providing long-term certainty to the market and supporting our huge programme of rail investment."

Work on the rail network between Birmingham and Wolverhampton will continue throughout the Easter weekend, with buses running between Wolverhampton and Sandwell and Dudley until services resume on Tuesday.

Tomorrow afternoon all train services between Wolverhampton and Birmingham will stop for major engineering work over the Easter weekend, re-starting on Tuesday.

Replacement buses will run between Wolverhampton and Sandwell and Dudley.

The Midland Metro also closes at the end of service on Good Friday so that engineers can modify platforms ahead of the launch of a new £40m fleet of bigger trams next year. The tram service will not reopen until April 15. Kevin Chapman, of West Midlands Campaign for Better Transport said:"It is incredibly stupid to commence engineering works on Maundy Thursday afternoon and shows contempt for travellers who need to travel over the Easter period."