BRITAIN’s most prestigious railway, the east coast main line, will get a new operator this week when the Department for Transport names the winner of a keenly-contested battle between four of Britain’s largest transport groups.

National Express, the quoted bus and rail company, was last night tipped as the winner. It would take over from GNER, a subsidiary of Sea Containers, which has run the blue-riband route since the privatisation of British Rail in the mid1990s.

But industry sources said last night the result was still open. Four names are in the frame – National Express, Arriva, Virgin/ Stagecoach and First Group – and the sources said all the companies believed they still had a chance of clinching the prize.

The east coast line, home of the Flying Scotsman, has long been prized. It carries express trains between London and Edin-burgh, and serves other key destinations such as Leeds and Aberdeen.

GNER has in the past won plaudits for its handling of the franchise, but the company has become mired in financial trouble. Its parent company, Sea Containers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in America last year.

GNER hung on to the east coast franchise in 2005, beating rivals with an ambitious bid that would have seen it pay £1.3 billion to the government over 10 years. But the company was unable to keep up with its forecasts for revenue growth, and last year struck a deal to relinquish the franchise at the end of the year.

If National Express is successful, it will be a coup for Richard Bowker, chief executive. As an executive at Virgin group, he made a bid for the line earlier, only to beaten by GNER. His plan then included a proposal for a TGV-style line alongside existing tracks.

Sir Richard Branson has long coveted the east coast line. He is bidding jointly with Stagecoach, and has given a small stake to GNER. Virgin and Stagecoach run trains on the other main intercity route, the west coast main line, and a win on the east coast would give a near monopoly of London-Scotland traffic.

Industry executives were this week wondering how close the successful bid would come to matching GNER’s. One rail analyst said: “The route is still experiencing very strong passenger growth, and the government has made it clear it is happy to see fare increases above the rate of inflation, so the company that wins is going to have promise to give back a lot to the Treasury.”

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