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Government slammed for handing 'bully' Virgin a rail monopoly

THE government faced accusations yesterday of allowing Virgin to “bully their way” into a monopoly after the firm was handed the West Coast rail franchise until March 2017.

Virgin Trains previously lost out to FirstGroup in the battle for a new 13-year West Coast franchise, but the process was scrapped by the Department for Transport due to errors in the bidding process.

It resulted in a temporary deal allowing Virgin to run the West Coast service until November.

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