204 CEEFAX1 Wed 29 Mar CEEFAX.TV
State taking over key rail route
One of Britain's key rail routes is to
be taken into public hands later.
National Express will hand back East
Coast Mainline services between London
and Edinburgh and the rest of the East
Coast franchise just before midnight.
Falling revenue and rising costs left
it unable to meet a commitment to pay
£1.4bn for the franchise until 2015.
A government company, Directly Operated
Railways, will run the franchise for at
least 18 months. Ministers say staff
and services will be unaffected.
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