Pete Green of Left Unity said:
“Handing the East Coast line to Virgin is rewarding failure on a massive scale.
“East Coast showed how it easy it would be to take all the railways back into public ownership. It ran excellent services, with satisfaction ratings at record levels, and made £220 million for the taxpayer.
“Virgin, on the other hand, takes huge public subsidies, runs notoriously bad services and funnels the profits into the pockets of Richard Branson. He will now have an effective monopoly on London-to-Scotland trains.
“We urgently need an end to the chaos of private rail.”
For interviews and more information contact press@leftunity.org
Notes for editors
1. Left Unity is the new party of the left in Britain. Founded in November 2013, it has around 2,000 members and 50 branches across the country.
Left Unity is active in movements and campaigns across the left, working to create an alternative to the main political parties.
About Left Unity
Read our manifesto
Left Unity is a member of the European Left Party. 
Read the European Left Manifesto
Events and protests from around the movement, and local Left Unity meetings.
Saturday 26th September: Tell Andy Burnham to Stop arming Israel
March to Labour Party Conference
12 noon: St George’s Plateau, Liverpool
More details here
Saturday 10th October: National March for Palestine
Three Years of Genocide – Stop Arming Israel – Sanctions Now
12 noon Victoria Embankment
More details here
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