THE three main contenders for the Trans-Pennine Express rail route have been sent away by the Government and told to think again.

The Government wants them to re-think their bids to make them less complicated, more targeted and better value for money.

But the DETR's announcement that it wants to start the drawn-out bidding process all over again today sparked concern from Selby MP John Grogan, particularly because no timetable for new action has been laid down publicly.

Mr Grogan fears even further delay in announcing the winner of the franchise for which best bidders have been narrowed down to Arriva, the current holder, Connex, and a joint bidder, the First Group and Keolis SA (formerly Via GTI.)

He has called for business representatives from Selby and North Yorkshire as a whole to join him in a fact-finding delegation to the Strategic Rail Authority which has agreed to meet him.

"I am alarmed that there is no timetable on this," said Mr Grogan. "The process has already taken a year. Now the SRA has been asked to develop a baseline specification to which all the bidders must adhere. But how long will that take? How long will it take for the bidders to respond?"

Transport Secretary Stephen Byers has clearly decided that the original brief by the SRA was too broad, generating little more than "wish lists" from the three operators which were difficult to judge one against the other.

Instead he wants the Strategic Rail Authority to work closely with the five Passenger Transport Executives (PTEs) to identify what passengers in the North of England actually want. and to include it as a minimum in their future brief.

York Councillor Derek Smallwood, the chairman of the TransPennine Rail Group, feared that in its bid to cut costs the Government would not make a suggested 20-year franchise viable. "The worry is that bidders will conclude that it's not worth it."

The new process, asking the bidders to draw up schemes which involve lower subsidies, suggests that the result may not be as cut and dried as was rumoured.

The announcement puts into doubt strong speculation that Connex, which lost its franchise in the South, was to be the preferred bidder.

The new willingness to consider bids from all three was welcomed today by Robin Etherington, First Group spokesman, who described it as "a step forward"

Tony Bennett, assistant director for economic development with City of York Council, welcomed any prospect of improvement in Trans-Pennine rail services particularly key links between York and Manchester Airport, but said: "It would be crazy if we ended up with bids accepted and then find that the very infrastructure on which they were predicated wasn't there."

Updated: 11:01 Saturday, September 15, 2001