RAIL travellers will be filled with gloom and disgust to hear that there will be no new trains on the East Coast Main Line until 2006 at the earliest.

This news emerged late yesterday as GNER chief executive Christopher Garnett gave evidence to the Transport Select Committee, which has been investigating the way rail franchises were awarded.

Mr Garnett said the botched franchising process has dashed any hope of new trains. He also pointed out that the cost to GNER of competing with Virgin for the franchise was at least £4 million.

The powerful committee of MPs has been sitting since the middle of last month, and yesterday it was GNER's turn to speak up. The York-based train operating company is still stinging from the Government's refusal to decide on the 20-year franchise for the East Coast Main Line - a piece of political fudge which has seen this region's rail network blighted by uncertainty.

Faced with a choice between GNER and Virgin, Transport Secretary Stephen Byers stumbled and announced that he was postponing the award of the franchise until 2005. This ham-fisted piece of indecision was no help at all to anyone in the industry, least of all to GNER, which was left running a service it was unable to improve. Without the security of the long franchise, the company will find it difficult to invest in new rolling stock.

The Government's most senior rail adviser has already caused controversy during the select committee's sitting. Sir Alistair Morton, chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority, told MPs that the Government ignored his recommendation that GNER should be given the 20-year franchise in preference to Virgin. Sir Alistair said that he made up his mind last December that GNER should win the bid - and it "never changed once".

It is a shame the Government didn't share his confidence.

Updated: 10:39 Thursday, November 01, 2001