NO ONE ever said running a railway would be easy. Following privatisation, a difficult business has become more complicated, due to the competing demands of public service and private profit.

The recent history of rail travel is not a happy one, thanks in part to the lengthy speed restrictions put in force after the Hatfield rail crash late last year. But in general we are well served by the East Coast Main Line, which can whisk us north or south with ease, or at least can do when everything is running smoothly.

This rail line is an ever-pumping artery that keeps us in touch. For this reason it is vital that a decision is made soon about who will win the franchise to run this critical service. The choice is between GNER and Virgin, and a swift announcement needs to be made as every delay is another lost chance to improve this line.

As Ernie Preston, secretary of the Rail Passengers' Committee for North East England, says in tonight's edition, the decision on the East Coast Main Line franchise should have been made a year ago. Instead the bidders have been kept waiting to know their fate, while rail users have been left with a service which is not as good as it should be, because all-important modernisation is impossible in the shadow of such indecision.

As we have made plain with our Back The Bid campaign, we support the GNER bid to run the East Coast Main Line. Virgin's plans are typically flamboyant and include the expressed desire to run Europe's fastest train on a parallel track. Such grand plans are rather let down by the more mundane fact that Virgin's West Coast service is poor, expensive and unpopular.

While GNER may not be perfect, it has established a fast and efficient service and has pledged to keep its headquarters in York.

So let's have a decision and let's have it now.

Updated: 11:16 Friday, June 15, 2001