THE deadline for bids for the Transpennine rail franchise passed yesterday with seven potential operators submitting proposals they see as the best way forward for the service.

Among those joining Sunderland company Arriva in the bidding race was the Virgin Rail Group, which is again basing its proposals around a fleet of tilting trains.

Along with Arriva which is committed to reducing journey times between Newcastle and Liverpool to three hours, Virgin has said it will reduce the time of the service from the North-East across the Pennines.

Arriva has previously stated it intended to double the present service to the North-West, opening up the underused east coast section of track from Sunderland to York, and offering more passengers a direct route to Manchester and Liverpool.

The current Transpennine route is operated by Northern Spirit, a division of Arriva.

A spokesman for the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) said: "We will be looking at all these proposals in detail over the next few weeks, and then two or three will go forward.

"It will be a number of months before the final decision is taken on the franchise."

The companies who have submitted bids for the franchise are Arriva, Virgin Rail Group, First Group and Via GTI, joint partner in Manchester's Metro system Serco, Connex, Group Four and National Express.