Stagecoach to take legal action against the Department for Transport over the East Midlands franchise

East Midlands Business Link confirms a story that has been in the offing for a while:

Stagecoach Group has confirmed that its wholly owned subsidiary, Stagecoach East Midlands Trains Limited, is taking legal action against the Department for Transport. 

The group said that a claim was issued yesterday (8 May) at the High Court in London under Part 7 of the Civil Procedure Rules. The claim alleges that the Department for Transport breached its statutory duties in connection with the procurement of the new East Midlands rail franchise.

As things stand, Stagecoach is due to hand over the East Midlands franchise to Abellio, which is owned by the nationalised Dutch railways.

The franchise system increasingly gives rise to legal action, while there are a diminishing number of companies interested in bidding at all.

It seems the model set up when the railways were privatised under John Major is on its last legs.