TRAIN services between Glasgow and London could be temporarily re-nationalised following a legal challenge to the Government's £10 billion franchise deal on the route.
Passenger services on the West Coast Main Line were due to be taken over by Aberdeen-based First Group but this has been delayed by Virgin Trains, the current operator, which has sought a judicial review of the process.
The Department for Transport (DfT) confirmed it is now looking at transferring passenger services on Europe's busiest train route to Directly Operated Railways (DOR), which it owns, if the legal row is not settled ahead of hand-over date on December 9.
If this happens, it would leave the main operators of passenger services on both the West and East Coast main lines in temporary state ownership.
East Coast, a subsidiary of DOR, took over London to Scotland services from National Express in 2009 after profits fell short, forcing the company to walk away from the franchise as it could not keep up payments to the DfT.
Virgin has claimed the same fate will befall First, who it has accused of making over-optimistic growth forecasts that will leave taxpayers picking up the bill if the franchise collapses.
First has denied this, saying it has delivered a more ambitious deal which will see taxpayers benefit by £700 million more over the next 13 years than they would if Virgin had won the franchise.
A spokesman for the DfT said: "We are looking at our responsibilities under Section 30 of the Railways Act and in view of the circumstances it is only prudent to increase our focus on contingency planning."
The delay comes as both Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson and Tim O'Toole, chief executive of First, are due to appear in front of MPs today at Westminster's transport select committee. Sir Richard, is expected to accuse civil servants of making unreliable growth forecasts.
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