[Pierre]

It all smacks of desparation and sour grapes.

Virgin did not have a right to operate the service on the West Coast Line.

They entered into a tender process knowing they were up against others.

The process lasted 15months, plenty of time for them to get any and all the clarifications needed on how the bids would be assessed and weighted.

They were outbid. They lost, suck it up, stop crying and get on with it.

The railways are privatised, it's business, not altruism.

Now if First make a balls of it, then so be it. I see it happen in construction all the time.

Companies effectively buy work, knowing they'll make a loss on the bid as it stands, and hope they can make it profitable through the life of the project on cost savings, and claims.