Latest editorial
A Virgin train passes some rusting track at the side of the West Coast line near Abington, in August 2012
TRAINS on the InterCity West Coast route will not be nationalised after the government awarded the contract to yet another private company.
Italian-Scottish firm First Trenitalia will take over from Richard Branson’s Virgin Trains on the West Coast Main Line from London to Glasgow on December 8.
The move means that more than three-quarters of rail franchises in Britain will be at least partly owned by foreign states or businesses.
The HS2 debacle exposes what happens when public infrastructure is handed to private contractors – especially when set against China’s state-led high-speed rail success, says CARLOS MARTINEZ
On the eve of the 157th Trades Union Congress, MICK WHELAN, general secretary of Aslef, the train drivers’ union, celebrates victory in his campaign to get dignity for drivers at work