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Government may take over GNER rail route
By Paul Robinson THE BATTLE of wills between the Government and GNER over the future of the Leeds to London rail link took a significant new twist today.
Bosses at the firm have been threatening to walk away from their East Coast Main Line franchise unless the amount of money they pay to operate services on the route is reduced.
Soaring energy prices and increased competition mean the line – which runs between London and Edinburgh via Yorkshire – is not proving as profitable as was expected when GNER signed the 1.3bn 10-year deal.
The operator's calls for a contract renegotiation have taken place against a backdrop of financial problems for its parent company, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States earlier this month.
Now Transport Minister Stephen Ladyman has attempted to seize the initiative by indicating that the Government is ready to take control of GNER's franchise, just as it did with Connex in the South East in 2000.
He said: "If we need to we can take action.
"We have the mechanisms for doing that, as we did in Kent for example, where we had to strip a franchisee of the franchise and basically we stepped in and ran the franchise centrally until the franchise could be re-let."
York-based GNER has operated services on the East Coast line since 1996.
It signed its latest deal in March last year after a fierce bidding war with FirstGroup and Virgin Trains.
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Weather for Leeds
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 1 C to 6 C
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Wind direction: North west
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