THE fate of the flagship East Coast Main Line - and 400 York jobs - will be revealed next month.

York MP Hugh Bayley said Railways Minister Tom Harris had told him the winner of the franchise would be announced during August, after MPs have begun their long summer break.

The successful bidder would then be expected to take over the running of the line before the end of the year.

The Government has to choose from a shortlist of four bids from National Express, Arriva, First Rail and a consortium of Virgin, Stagecoach and existing operator GNER, called Inter City Railways Ltd.

Their bids were submitted last month, with all four promising to run a top-class service on the line, which links York with both London and Edinburgh.

However, only two of the bidders, National Express and the Virgin consortium, have publicly promised to keep the route's HQ in York if they win the franchise.

The others, First Rail and Arriva, have repeatedly insisted they could not disclose such information under the terms of the franchise bid, although they have hinted strongly that they too would keep the HQ here by speaking of the high quality of GNER's staff.

GNER employs about 400 office staff in York, and Mr Bayley and other political leaders have stressed the importance of the HQ remaining in the city. City of York councillors have also stressed the need for the winning bidder to improve York Railway Station, buy new rolling stock and provide a late-night service from London to York.

They have also stressed the importance of the franchise-holders' attitude towards the proposed redevelopment of the York Central site behind the station.

Mr Bayley said the Government generally tried to make announcements on such matters while MPs were sitting, but was not bound to do so.

He said that, if ministers were not ready to announce the decision before MPs leave Parliament at the end of next week, it would have been wrong for them to wait until they had returned to Westminster in the mid-autumn.

He said he had been given no hint of who was set to win the franchise.

He said: "I very much hope whoever wins, they will swiftly commit to keeping the HQ in York."


Who are the bidders - and what are they promising?

* Inter City Railways Ltd says its unique partnership (Virgin and Stagecoach) of the most experienced and innovative operators on the UK rail network will "deliver a new benchmark for customers and communities".

* Arriva says it has worked hard to develop proposals which would provide high-quality services for all customers, establishing the East Coast franchise "beyond doubt as the UK's premier train service".

* National Express says it has developed a bid proposal which would deliver the future investment necessary to create a "truly world class railway".

* First Group says it would revitalise the franchise to deliver a "step change in improvements in quality and performance" to customers.