The transport secretary said there would be no delay with the signing of the West Coast mainline contract by FirstGroup - which is set to take over from Virgin Trains later this year.

Justine Greening said there had been a "proper process" and the government had to take the bid that was the best deal for taxpayers and start getting value from the "lucrative franchises".

She said the FirstGroup bid would lead to more seats and direct services for more towns and was a "good deal generally".

More than 130,000 people signed an online petition calling on the government to rethink its decision for the future of the line from London Euston, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow.

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