The Department for Transport has published the Expression of Interest for the West Coast Partnership, which will see the new franchisee partnered with HS2 from April 2019.

The new franchise will combine the current services run by Virgin Trains on the West Coast Main Line with the initial High Speed 2 services. It will also be responsible for designing and running the initial high speed services from 2026, which covers the first three to five years of HS2.

The invitation to tender is expected to be published in November 2017, with the new franchise scheduled to start in April 2019.