West coast mainline franchise: timeline

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/oct/03/west-coast-mainline-franchise-key-dates

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Here are the key dates in the west coast mainline franchise saga, following news that the decision to hand the line to FirstGroup was flawed and must be overturned.

1997

Virgin Rail, a joint venture between Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Trains and Stagecoach, begins running the west coast mainline after being awarded a 15-year contract following the privatisation of UK railways.

2011

The Department for Transport (DfT) invites bids from companies interested in taking over the franchise when Virgin's contract expires in December 2012.

Dutch train operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen, Virgin and First West Coast, a subsidiary of the UK's largest rail operator FirstGroup, enter the 15-month competition process.

A joint bid from French transport group Keolis and the country's national state-owned railway company SNCF is also received by the DfT.

15 August 2012

The DfT announces it intends to award the west coast franchise to Aberdeen-based FirstGroup but is yet to sign the 13-year deal.

More than 150,000 people sign an online petition calling for the decision to be reconsidered.

26 August

Branson offers to run the line "for free" to give parliament time to conduct a review into the procurement process.

He said Virgin Trains and Stagecoach would run the service on a not-for-profit basis after December if MPs needed more time to look at the matter.

27 August

Labour urges the government to delay signing the contract with FirstGroup until parliament reconvenes so the matter can be debated in the Commons.

The DfT says there is "no reason" to delay.

28 August

Virgin starts high court proceedings demanding a judicial review into the decision to hand the contract to FirstGroup.

The then transport secretary, Justine Greening, says the government will fight the legal challenge, with the DfT stating it was confident the competition process was robust. Signing of the contract is delayed.

10 September

Commons transport select committee takes evidence from Branson, FirstGroup chief executive Tim O'Toole and DfT officials in the wake of the franchise row.

The Virgin boss describes his rival's bid as "absolutely preposterous".

3 October

The DfT announces the decision to award the west coast franchise to FirstGroup has been scrapped following the discovery of significant technical flaws in the procurement process.

The government says the bidding process must be rerun and that it will no longer be contesting the judicial review sought by Virgin.

The new transport secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, orders two urgent independent reviews into the matter.