Goldman High Speed 1 bid gets more backing

Goldman Sachs and Groupe Eurotunnel have brought in extra financial backers as they placed their consortium bid for Britain's only high-speed rail line which could raise at least £1.5 billion for the Treasury.

The Government is selling "High Speed 1", which has a 30-year concession to run a 70-mile railway linking London and the Channel Tunnel, to help cut its budget deficit. The deadline for bids is today.

The "GB Speedrail" group, already consisting of Eurotunnel, Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners and M&G's Infracapital, has been joined by two financial backers, the Universities Superannuation Scheme, and France's Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, a spokesman for the group said. "We will make an indicative bid today," the spokesman said.

The five-strong group is vying with at least two rival teams - one being made up of Morgan Stanley Infrastructure, 3i Infrastructure and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. A second, Canadian partnership has allied Borealis - the infrastructure investment arm of Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System - with Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.

The successful bidder will be expected to open up the line to rival railway companies who will be able to compete with Eurotunnel which at present runs the only passenger services to the Continent.