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12,000 people have signed a petition calling for the troubled East Coast rail route to be taken back into public ownership.

Pressure group We Own It says the level of support shows the strength of public anger over the government’s bailout of the Stagecoach-operated Virgin Trains service.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has agreed to allow Virgin Trains East Coast to end the franchise three years early with a possible loss of £2bn payments to the government.

Cat Hobbs, Director of We Own It, said: “This is an absolute disgrace. Chris Grayling has sent a clear message to the train companies: It doesn’t matter what you do. It doesn’t matter whether you succeed in running our railways. This government will bail you out, no matter what. Pocket the profits – the public will take the risk.

“And our message for Chris Grayling is: no way. Passengers and taxpayers will not pay for this bail out. Train companies have failed too many times. Send Virgin and Stagecoach packing for good - and make sure you collect what we’re owed before they go.

“We’ve reached peak privatisation. Peak ideology, peak corporate handouts, not to mention peak fares. Passengers have had enough. It’s time to bring the railway into public ownership, starting with East Coast.

And Mick Cash, general secretary of the RMT rail union, said:“The Tories are prepared to throw away £2 billion of public money baling out the latest privatisation failure on the East Coast Mainline.

“It is nothing short of a national scandal and reinforces the urgent need for public ownership of Britain’s railways.”

The East Coast route between London and Edinburgh was operated in the public sector from 2009 until 2015 after National Express defaulted on its contract.

Between 2009 and 2015 the East Coast mainline was run in public ownership under Directly Operated Railways - a Department for Transport run company -and was the most efficient franchise in the country and also had a 91% satisfaction rate.

Meg Hillier MP, head of the Commons’ spending watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee, plans to investigate Grayling’s decision in the New Year when rail fares rise by 3.4% - the highest increase in five years.

Ellie Harrison, founder of Bring Back British Rail, which is backing the campaign, said:

“Public ownership is the most popular policy with passengers, it’s proven to be a success, and yet this government, wedded to the ideology of privatisation, is prepared to throw billions of pounds more public money at these useless private operators rather than renationalising the route.”

Mirror readers can join the campaign by signing the petition at weownit.org.uk/east-coast