Stagecoach facing competition probe threat over East Coast rail franchise

Stagecoach has days to avoid a major competition probe after the Competitions and Markets Authority raised concerns over potential fare increases and service quality in its new £3.3 billion east coast rail franchise.

The Perth-based public transport giant and Virgin Trains, who jointly own franchise company Inter City Railways Limited (ICRL), has just five working days to come up with acceptable remedies to issues raised by the watchdog or a full competition investigation will be invoked.

The concerns relate to the overlapping of east coast rail and Citylink coach services between Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen and a separate situation in the East Midlands.

The watchdog said the ICRL consortium – which is due to begin running the line on March 1 – was being given the chance to avoid an in-depth merger investigation.

For more, see The Courier tomorrow.