I posted back in February my thoughts on bidders and my first choice read:

1) Stagecoach. Not only winning by several lengths, but almost a one-horse
race. Their bid manager, Rufus Boyd, really impressed me with his clarity of
vision, understanding of region and understanding of problems.

So on balance this is the best I could have hoped for I suppose.

The dropping of the silly idea of splitting/joining Meridians at Leicester
is good, but from where has NR found the path that wasn't there before? The
Lincoln - London service is interesting.

But, the press release is largely about ex-MML. It doesn't say a great deal
about ex-CT rural lines.

David