Call For Inquiry After Document Leak

The operator of East Midlands Trains has called for an inquiry after details of its bid to continue running services through Market Harborough were sent to the company that will take over from it.

Stagecoach say a Network Rail official inavertedly emailed sensitive documents to rival Abellio, which ended up winning the contract to run trains on the Midland Mainline from August.

The transport giant claims the Department for Transport has failed to properly investigate the matter, although the government department says the information was not accessed and did not affect the bidding process.

Stagecoach was stripped of the franchise by the DfT and barred from applying for two more in a row over pensions.

A Stagecoach Group spokesman said: “We are extremely concerned at what is a serious breach of the integrity of the procurement process and the failure of the Department for Transport to investigate it either promptly or adequately. We do not consider the matter closed.

“There is growing evidence that the procurement process followed by the DfT in this case has been materially flawed and should be subject to an independent investigation. We believe there are also wider questions to be answered across other franchise competitions.”

Network Rail has refused to comment.