National Express bid group appeals over rail networks

The Spanish-led consortium bidding for transport group National Express has appealed to Transport Secretary Lord Adonis not to remove the company's remaining two railway franchises.

The group – led by National Express' largest shareholder the Cosmen family, backed by private equity group CVC – said its bid is conditional on National Express keeping both the C2C and East Anglia franchises. The latter is currently facing a series of two-day strikes.

Adonis has taken a hard line on National Express since it withdrew from the loss-making East Coast mainline last month – after failing to renegotiate the terms of its franchise.

Yesterday National Express revealed it lost £20 million running the line between January and June.

Analysts believe that by handing the franchise back, National Express – which had paid the Government £1.4 billion to run the line from 2007 to 2014 – could limit its losses to some £60 million. Traveller numbers have slumped since the original auction for the line two years ago.

Stagecoach is meanwhile looking to buy parts of National Express from the consortium, or even bid for the whole company.