AN E-PETITION urging the Government to rethink its decision to award the Intercity West Coast franchise to FirstGroup is gaining momentum, with almost 29,000 online signatures recorded by Wednesday morning.
At least two other petitions making the same point have been started but rejected because they are duplicates.
It's been understood that the contract to run the intercity services between London, Birmingham, Manchester, Holyhead and Scotland has not yet been signed, although the choice of FirstGroup was announced a week ago. Sources say that the official 'signing day' will be Tuesday 28 August, and that Virgin will have until then to decide whether to petition for a judicial review.
It's also known that both the Transport and Public Accounts Select Committees in the House of Commons are concerned about the implications of awarding a £5.5 billion contract, based on present values, to FirstGroup. Virgin's comparable bid was worth £4.8 billion.
In a blog on the Virgin website, Sir Richard said: "Overwhelming majority agree West Coast Main Line decision is wrong." Virgin has attracted many messages of support, but there are some critical notes as well.
In a separate development, Virgin has announced plans to run flights between London and Manchester and also between London and Scotland, which would represent new competition for West Coast rail services as well as the airline bmi.
FirstGroup, meanwhile, has defended the Government's choice. A spokesman said: "As a result of our plans, customers travelling with us will use faster brand new trains with more seats, serving more destinations than the current service."
The contract involves a core period of 13 years and 4 months, with a possible extension to 15 years. Virgin has been running the service since it was transferred from British Rail in March 1997. It had been due to end in March this year, but was extended to December to give the Department for Trabnsport more time in which to relet the contract.
As things stand, Virgin is one of three defeated bidders. The others were the Dutch state rallway, which trades here as Abellio, and a partnership between the French state railway SNCF and Keolis.