THE return of the East Coast Main Line franchise to the private sector was put back a year yesterday to avoid a clash with bids for its west coast counterpart.

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond announced yesterday that the new franchise for the line would now not start until December 2013.

It follows concerns that with the new West Coast Main Line franchise commencing in December 2012, possible bidders wanting to secure either one of the lines may be put off making an offer in case they ended up with both.

The Government had previously intended to return the East Coast Main Line, which National Express handed back in 2009, to private ownership by the end of next year.

When the Government first retook control of the franchise the then Transport Secretary, Labour peer Lord Adonis, envisaged it could even be back in private hands by November of this year.

Last night a Department for Transport spokesman said: "We are committed to returning East Coast to the private sector as soon as possible.

"But in order to avoid having to offer the market more than one long-distance franchise at a time, which could impact negatively on the value for money that we are able to achieve for the taxpayer, we have decided that the new Inter City East Coast franchise should now commence in December 2013.

"The commitment to returning East Coast to private ownership is not affected by this."

The Government is also believed to be keen to ensure it gets the right firm to run the franchise, covering the line between Edinburgh and London, given its troubled recent history.

When National Express, which had agreed in 2007 to pay £1.4bn to run the line until 2015, handed it back barely two years later it was the second private firm in three years to bid more than £1bn for the route and then quit after admitting it could not afford it. GNER gave up its £1.3bn contract in 2006.

However initiatives put in place by East Coast, which reintroduced a Flying Scotsman service in May, appear to have started to pay dividends.

Last week it announced the biggest surge in first class ticket sales for five years, after a £12m overhaul, which included the launch of a new timetable and complimentary food and drinks service, in May.

The East Coast announcement formed part of a wider rail franchising programme for Britain's railways covering the next few years.

Rail operator First TransPennine Express which runs services in the North of England and Scotland, has had its eight year franchise, which was due to end on January 31 next year, extended for a further three years until April 1, 2015.