TUC Conference To Vote On Franchise Future

Delegates at the TUC's annual conference in Liverpool are to vote later today on calls to keep the East Coast mainline in public hands once it is handed back by National Express. ASLEF has tabled a motion urging ministers to abandon plans to find another buyer next year and to run it instead on a not-for-profit basis.

Of particular interest to Manningtree passengers is the call by the union to also have the East Anglian (NXEA) and C2C franchises handed back to public ownership. ASLEF are also urging the government to ban National Express from ever running a rail service again.