THE boss of a York rail firm has spoken of his "disappointment" after plans to run extra services hit the buffers.

GNER chief executive Christopher Garnett said the Office of Rail Regulation's (ORR) decision to allow rival city firm Grand Central to run trains on the East Coast Main Line - at the expense of the Station Rise-based firm's 12 extra trains from Leeds to London - has "long-term consequences" for the company.

In a leaflet to stakeholders, Mr Garnett insisted that GNER would "continue to push for the right outcome on this issue".

"We are reviewing what action we might take, for example, on whether it is fair that a new entrant to the market is allowed access without paying the same costs as franchised operators to use the railway," he said.

"The disappointment of all this is that it comes at a time when GNER is running as well, if not better, than it has ever done."

He said: "The battle is not over!"

His words come just days after GNER furiously rebutted reports that Mr Garnett was likely to leave the company to seek new challenges in the wake of the ORR's decision.

And the Evening Press reported earlier this week that GNER is considering taking legal action over the ORR move.

GNER's leaflet also revealed that Grand Central's victory is likely to cost the company £13 million a year, with the firm looking to discuss with the Department for Transport the impact of the railway's new operator.

And the company also said it feared that timetable changes, which could be forced on GNER when Grand Central starts running on the rails, might mean its services would take longer, miss out station stops or be moved.

GNER said it would be working with Network Rail to see whether there is capacity to run the planned Leeds to London services - but said it was concerned the results might not be implemented until the end of 2008.

But it also said that a £100 million plan to electrify a section of track near Leeds was in jeopardy as a result of the ORR's decision, unless the Government decided to take the scheme forward.

Updated: 10:24 Friday, April 21, 2006