THIS is becoming a Government of Uturns.

One U-turn on ID cards is followed by a U-turn on part-privatisation of the Post Office. And then, hardest of all, a U-turn on the East Coast Main Line.

The route looks like it will be renationalised by the end of the year after the collapse of the second private operating franchise in two years.

Before Lord Adonis gets round to selling the franchise for a third time late next year, a better process has to be created – not one that encourages firms to place unrealistic offers, and not one that allows them to use “special purpose vehicles” to shield themselves when their greedy gamble goes wrong.

It is the passengers who bear the brunt of this failed franchising process.

Because the East Coast Main Line is over-crowded and extremely expensive.

If yesterday afternoon someone in the North-East had been called to a meeting in London this morning, they’d have to pay £230 for a standard peak return (source: National Rail Inquiries).

First class return, if you fancied a little elbow room to use a laptop, would be £368 – a price only an MP could afford.

With compulsory seat reservation charges – or “mugging”, as one union official described them – and on-board catering nearly returning to the curledup sandwiches of British Rail days, it is little wonder the passenger feels hard done by.

Yet, the actual trains are good. They are punctual, reliable and fast. With people queuing up to pay hundreds of pounds to use them, it is hard to see how the East Coast Main Line cannot be a viable business proposition.

So, as two private franchises have now failed, Lord Adonis should have completed his U-turn yesterday. Instead of promising to re-privatise, he should have said that we’ll give this arm’s-length governmental company a go for 12 to 18 months and see if it is making a better fist of it than the last two private franchise holders.