Mary Creagh MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, responding to the leaked East Coast franchise prospectus, said:

“David Cameron should tackle his Government’s cost of living crisis and cap rail fare rises for struggling commuters, instead of obsessing about handing East Coast over to the private sector. East Coast is working well and will have returned £800 million to the taxpayer by the end of this financial year.

“David Cameron says we’re all in this together but if that’s true then why is he going back to the 1950s and reintroducing third class? East Coast passengers deserve better than this.

“This Government has learned nothing from the West Coast franchising fiasco, which saw over £50 million of taxpayers’ money wasted in compensation to train companies, through ministers’ incompetence.”