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Brown praises East Coast Main rail line
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, right, has been given a first-hand view of the North East rail service that the Government will soon take over.
Mr Brown travelled on the East Coast Main Line route which is to temporarily come under state ownership, during a visit to the region.
Mr Brown, continuing his tour of Britain, used the National Express service to travel from York to Newcastle.
He said: "The important thing is that the service has been maintained. The workforce are still in their jobs.
"We have a Government franchise and we have to move on to a private sector franchise coming in quite soon.
"The service is there and it is working well."
Mr Brown praised the rail service during his visit to a Northumberland power station.
On Wednesday, East Coast operator National Express said it was not continuing to financially support the line when the current funding ran out – probably in the next few months.
Criticising National Express for "walking away" from the franchise, Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said a public company would run the line when National Express ceased to operate it.
He added that the Government aimed to tender for a new East Coast franchise operator at the end of 2010.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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