Triple blow slows National Express

FALLING taxpayer handouts, the drying-up of post-Hatfield compensation and the refusal of leisure passengers to get back on to the railways have put a massive dent in profits at Britain's biggest train operator, National Express.

The company warned that it will be calling for more subsidies from the Strategic Rail Authority if it is to continue running all nine of its franchises.

A collapse in profits at its London franchises from £34m to just £5m sent underlying half-year pre-tax profits at the group, which includes buses, coaches and operations in the US and Australia, down nearly 40% to £37m. Worst in London was the Gatwick Express, heavily reliant on business travel, which suffered a 12% dive in passengers.

The company said it had not seen any return in leisure travel across its networks since the Hatfield crash nearly two years ago, with off-peak leisure spending down 5% year-on-year.

'Leisure travellers simply have not been relying on train services,' said finance director William Rollason. The heavily subsidised Central Trains and ScotRail franchises, which have been bailed out by the SRA, are already slipping into loss again, the company said.

UK trains' woes were compounded by similarly uneconomic post-privatisation transport franchises in Australia, which reported a collapse into £400,000 loss from a £6m profit last time.