Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has opened the door to keeping one of Britain’s busiest train lines in public hands until midway through the next decade.

The nationalised operator of the East Coast mainline has been handed an extension of up to five years by the Department for Transport, according to filings made with European authorities.

The troubled franchise was handed back to the Government in June last year after joint operators Stagecoach and Virgin racked up almost £200m of losses. It was the third time since 2007 that the line has been nationalised.

Mr Grayling, who appointed the state-owned Operator of Last Resort to run the London to Edinburgh line in June 2018 instead, said Stagecoach had “got its sums wrong”.

He had previously said that the nationalised company would be in control on a "temporary basis", with a new public/private partnership taking over in 2020.

However, filings made on Wednesday show the Department for Transport has given the Operator of Last Resort, which runs under the LNER brand, an extension until halfway through 2025.