Chris

Actually it's not. The Government's responsibility is to see that the franchise is handed to a company that can fulfil it, not hand it to a reckless bidder and then sit back and wait to collect the fines.

First's bid was widely derided because it claimed it could massively increase passenger numbers on a route that's already close to capacity and because almost all of the additional cash over and above what Virgin was promising was back-loaded on the final couple of years of the franchise, i.e. so far in the future that if they failed and had to bail out, the taxpayer would have had no additional benefit over and above what would have resulted from the incumbent remaining in charge.

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I wonder what went on in the DfT over the past few weeks though. Justine Greening and then Patrick McLoughlin were both so adamant the franchise was properly assessed and awarded but then seemed in a right hurry to conclude it in the face of all the complaints. Now there are suddenly "significant technical flaws" evident in the risk assessment. I'd suggest Greening's head should be on the block were it not for the fact she's already had the chop. The question now is, having come in after the horse had bolted, how much did McLoughlin actually know about the decision-making process? Did he simply believe what Sir Humphrey told him?