Trenitalia’s Frecciarossa trains are built in a joint venture by Bombardier and Hitachi; both have UK trainmaking plants

The Italian state rail company has opened the bidding to operate the trains on the High Speed Two line in what is likely to be the most hotly contested competition in the history of the railways.

Trenitalia has said that it will put in a bid to run both HS2 and the west coast main line currently operated by Virgin Trains.

It is doing so in league with a British partner, FirstGroup, operator of the much-criticised Great Western services. First has long harboured ambitions of getting on the country’s leading long-haul route from London Euston through Birmingham and Manchester to Glasgow.

HS2 and the west coast main line are being offered as a package — the West Coast Partnership — by the Department for Transport,