THE contest for the East Coast Main Line has more twists than an Alpine railway. One minute bosses at GNER are celebrating the decision by rivals Virgin to drop out, the next a new bidder arrives.

The latest contenders are English, Welsh & Scottish Railways (EWS) together with Danish Railways.

There is more than a whiff of Wacky Races here. Strange alliances have been formed as rail bosses scramble to claim the glittering prize: the fastest track in Britain.

Virgin's withdrawn bid was undertaken alongside Stagecoach and German operator Deutsche Bahn. Now we have a British freight specialist hooking up with a firm from Denmark.

Such partnerships fail to offer a serious challenge to GNER. Tony Blair has acknowledged its expertise, saying last year that "if we can bring the whole of the rail network up to the quality already provided - despite difficulties - by GNER and its staff, we will be making progress".

Passengers seem to agree. The company regularly achieves the highest passenger satisfaction ratings of the long-distance operators.

GNER should have been awarded the full franchise in 2002. Then, the Strategic Rail Authority inexplicably extended its existing franchise for just two years.

That has prevented GNER from being able to plan for the future and fully roll out its investment programme. Even so, passengers can already travel on the high-spec Mallard trains, part of its £100 million improvement programme.

For York, GNER is also the clear winner. Its commitment to this railway centre was reiterated by chief executive Christopher Garnett this week, who said "we are hugely proud to be based in this great city".

Here we have the only alliance necessary to make the best of the East Coast Main Line: GNER and York.

Updated: 10:57 Friday, July 09, 2004