Virgin's Branson urges 'transparent' rail bid process

Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson has called for "transparency and quality" to be part of the new rules on the future of franchising, following the collapse of a deal for the West Coast Mainline route.

FirstGroup was told it had won the bid in August but a legal challenge by Virgin unearthed errors in calculations. The government announced on Thursday that Virgin Trains will continue to run the service for another 23 months - until 9 November 2014.

A report into the collapse of the £5bn West Coast Mainline franchise deal has blamed a "damning failure" by the Department for Transport (DfT).