RAIL unions have condemned the handing of a six-year “gold-plated” operating contract to a privateer with a record of failure.

The Department for Transport announced today that Arriva will be running the publicly subsidised Chiltern Railway services until 2027.

Arriva, which is owned by Germany’s state-owned rail operator Deutsche-Bahn, proved incapable of running Britain’s biggest rail franchise Northern Rail efficiently and last year the service was taken into public control and ownership.