Sir Richard Branson, who crashed out of the East Coast franchise in May, will bank more than half the payout

Virgin billionaire Sir Richard Branson and Stagecoach tycoon Sir Brian Souter shared in a payout of more than £50m from the West Coast main line shortly before walking away from another franchise, at a cost to taxpayers of £2bn.

Last night, Labour said the payment showed that Britain’s ailing railways were “lining the pockets of billionaires” and bolstered the case for renationalisation.

Newly filed accounts for Virgin Rail Group, which operates the West Coast route between London and Glasgow, show that in 2017-18 it paid dividends of £51.7m — up from the £27.9m handed to the owners three years earlier.

Branson’s Virgin empire owns 51% of the West Coast operator. The rest is held by Stagecoach, the Scottish transport giant built up by Souter and