NATIONAL Express – the company that walked away from the East Coast rail franchise – has denied it could be about to bid for the route again.

The RMT rail union claimed the firm had been given the “green light” to enter the process to secure a private operator for the route.

However, National Express’s director of policy Anthony Vigor said: “We have said on the record for the past two or three years we won’t be bidding for East Coast.”

The £1.4bn East Coast Mainline contract was taken away from National Express in 2009 and the route placed into public ownership when the company said it was unwilling to fulfil its financial obligations.

It has since been run by the publicly-backed Directly Operated Railways (DOR), which last year saw annual operating profits soar to more than £7m. All of its profits are reinvested back into the network.

Demand for first-class travel has also hit an all-time high during DOR’s tenure, but despite its apparent success the Government is pressing ahead with plans to return East Coast to the private sector by 2015.

In April Rail Minister Simon Burns claimed the franchise was plateauing and was the worst in the country in respect of punctuality and reliability.

:: Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald is due to chair an adjournment debate in Parliament on Wednesday as part of efforts to keep East Coast in public hands.