By Bradley Gerrard Pressure is mounting on Virgin Trains after the Government said it was keeping the company’s future in rail under “constant review”.

Sir Richard Branson’s train company stoked political controversy last year when it emerged its joint venture which runs the East Coast mainline with Stagecoach would have to hand the keys to the franchise back years early.

The pair were accused of overbidding for the franchise by Chris Grayling, the Transport Secretary, while the companies blamed macroeconomic factors and uncompleted Network Rail upgrades for preventing the joint venture from hitting its targets.

The companies have also reiterated that they have met the financial obligations of the contract, including using all of a £165m parent company bond, put in place at the start of the franchise to ensure the Government receives its payments if a rail operator is struggling.