IF there is one inevitability in life other than death and taxes, it’s that trains run late.

While East Coast can boast an improving punctuality rate in recent times, on this grey, foggy morning in Darlington several trains running northbound appear to be slightly behind schedule.

When I ask at the ticket barriers why, a lady radios over the question to a colleague.

“It’s TPE (TransPennine Express), they always run late,” comes the reply. Later a tannoy announcement mentions a signal failure, although I can’t hear where the problem is exactly.

I hastily decide that rather than head for Newcastle to meet Rail Minister Claire Perry, as originally planned, I’ll instead jump on a train in the other direction to York and head her off at the pass so to speak.

It’s fair to say that on the day it is announced East Coast will no longer be publicly run – it will instead pass to a consortium of Stagecoach and Virgin – the news isn’t dominating passengers’ conversation.

A woman rushes down the train, exasperated, shouting to a member of staff: “Excuse me I have got on the wrong train.”

She’s told to see the train manager by a man in the buffet car. Unless the train can miraculously turn around she’s now heading to York, whether she likes it or not.

The young woman sat next to me smiles a bemused smile at the commotion and continues to watch ‘Gogglebox’ on her iPad. Meanwhile, a balding man in front of me discusses with the woman next to him visiting his mother in Southampton.

When we arrive 40 minutes or so later in York a steady flow of passengers disembark, dodging a gaggle of women on the platform who look like they are on a shopping expedition. A railway worker in a high visibility jacket empties an overflowing bin. The region’s busiest railway station is a hive of activity.

At the customer service desk, my ears prick up when a passenger mentions Richard Branson in between asking for train times. The Virgin entrepreneur has finally got his hands on the East Coast Franchise after previous failed attempts, albeit as a minority partner with Scottish-based Stagecoach. It turns out that the passenger is Colin Divall, a Professor of Railway Studies at the University of York, and he’s happy to share his views.

“It should have stayed in the state sector, it is a nonsense,” he says of the East Coast service. It certainly would be better value for the taxpayer.

“What we have now is individual operators concentrating on their individual routes, missing opportunities for connections and failing to take a long term view. British Rail was not perfect, but we should be taking a more strategic view of the national network.”

A woman sat nearby having a coffee also offers her two penneth. She’s travelled from Hebden Bridge to meet a friend coming up on the train from London.

“I would rather none of the railway be privatised,” she says. “It should be state owned. It is like the NHS isn’t it?

“Write a nice article,” she adds, before rushing off. Claire Perry then appears for a series of short media interviews as a group of journalists wait on the concourse. She’s statuesque and striking in a smart red coat and answers the questions thrown at her in a polished fashion.

Passengers can only hope there is equal polish in the transition from public to private sector for East Coast.