Editing Mobico Group (section)

===Default on East Coast rail franchise===
[[File:King's Cross railway station MMB 13 43238.jpg|thumb|[[National Express East Coast]] [[InterCity 125|High Speed Train]] at [[London King's Cross railway station|London King's Cross]] in July 2009]]
By 2009, National Express East Coast had come under increasing financial pressure due to various factors, including compounding rises in fuel prices and the poor economic climate of the time, commonly known as the [[Great Recession]]. In contrast to the company's projected revenue increases during its franchise, NXEC's actual operating income (generated primarily from ticket sales) had decreased by 1 percent during the first half of 2009.<ref name="BBC8128430">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8128430.stm |title=Q&A: National Express and East Coast line |date=1 July 2009 |access-date=1 July 2009 |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |archive-date=30 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130005414/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8128430.stm |url-status=live}}</ref> According to ''Rail'', the franchise had quickly garnered a reputation for cost-cutting and a decline in service levels, particularly in terms of the onboard catering.<ref name = "grail rail2015"/> It had also introduced various new charges, such as a £2.50 per journey leg for seat reservations.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=[[National Rail]] |url=http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/tocs_maps/tocs/gr/details.html##Ticketing_and_fares |title=Company Information: National Express East Coast |date=16 June 2009 |access-date=1 July 2009 |archive-date=19 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090619044506/http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/tocs_maps/tocs/gr/details.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |publisher=[[National Express]] |url=http://www.nationalexpressgroup.com/nx1/media/news/sub_news/pr2009/2009-05-12b/ |title=Seat reservations on East Coast and East Anglia train services |date=12 May 2009 |access-date=3 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100228184205/http://www.nationalexpressgroup.com/nx1/media/news/sub_news/pr2009/2009-05-12b |archive-date=28 February 2010}}</ref><ref name="BBC8127851">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8127851.stm |title=East Coast rail to be state-run |date=1 July 2009 |access-date=1 July 2009 |work=BBC News |archive-date=12 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012000316/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8127851.stm |url-status=live}}</ref>

During April 2009, National Express confirmed that the company was still pursuing talks with the government over possible financial assistance with the franchise, either through a reduction in the premium due or some other form of assistance.<ref name=Guardian3May09>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/may/03/national-express-rail-franchise |title=National Express in talks over scrapping east coast franchise |work=The Guardian |date=3 May 2009 |access-date=3 May 2009 |location=London |first=Dan |last=Milmo |archive-date=4 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004224150/http://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/may/03/national-express-rail-franchise |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name = "grail rail2015"/> During these negotiations, the company had reportedly offered to pay over £100&nbsp;million to be released from its commitment to operate the franchise.<ref name="BBC8128430"/> In July 2009, the [[Department for Transport]] announced that it would take the [[National Express East Coast]] franchise into public ownership at the end of the year after National Express announced it would not invest any further funds into the franchise, effectively declaring it planned to default.<ref>{{cite news |last=Milmo |first=Dan |date=1 July 2009 |title=£30bn shortfall threatens rail and road plans |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/jul/01/transport-east-coast-mainline-nationalised |access-date=1 July 2009}}</ref> In defaulting on the franchise, National Express directly incurred losses of £72&nbsp;million by forfeiting bonds.<ref name="BBC8128430"/> [[Directly Operated Railways]] took over the East Coast franchise on 14 November 2009.<ref name="bbchandover">{{cite news |date=5 November 2009 |title=East Coast rail change confirmed |work=[[BBC News Online]] |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/8343769.stm |access-date=5 November 2009}}</ref>

The franchise failure sparked public and industry calls for the permanent public ownership of the InterCity East Coast franchise, or even the complete scrapping of the entire franchise system.<ref name="BBC8128430"/> In November 2009, the government announced that [[National Express East Anglia]] would not be granted a three-year extension that it had otherwise qualified for; this was reportedly a result of the East Coast default.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8380108.stm |title= National Express loses East Anglia rail franchise |date =26 November 2009 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Millward |first=David |date=26 November 2009 |title=National Express loses East Anglia franchise three years early |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/6659587/National-Express-loses-East-Anglia-franchise-three-years-early.html}}</ref> However, National Express were subsequently granted an extension until October 2011, followed by another through to February 2012.<ref>{{cite news |last=Osborne |first=Alistair |date=15 September 2010 |title=National Express wins extension to East Anglia rail franchise |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/8002925/National-Express-wins-extension-to-East-Anglia-rail-franchise.html}}</ref>