// The same story has been repeated all over the country //
only (geographically) 4 franchises have failed - East Coast (3 times), SouthEastern (twice) and SouthCentral and Scotrail (once each).
East Coast should be a goldmine, the trains are always full... and yet! GNER overbid, National Express were caught out by a downturn and sharp increase in fuel costs, and Virgin defaulted because the system upgrades on which service improvements relied (and on which the bid's increased revenue forecast was based) didn't happen (and still haven't been completed).