Britain's train operators face a "potentially devastating" blow from the economic downturn and need government assistance to stave off disaster, public transport chiefs warned ministers yesterday.
The heads of the five largest train companies – Stagecoach, National Express, Go-Ahead, Arriva and FirstGroup – urged the transport secretary, Geoff Hoon, to consider shortening trains, rewriting the financial terms of franchise agreements and putting up state funding for an extra 1,000 staff across the rail network.
12:46, 21 Jan 2009
by Matthew Rees