TRAIN operator GNER is to outline its plans for services on the East Coast Mainline ahead of an expected franchise battle next year.

The company's two year extension to its current contract runs out in April 2005 and a number of competitors are likely to enter the running for the lucrative franchise.

The Strategic Rail Authority has begun a route utilisation study which will determine the shape of a new East Coast franchise and the results are due to be published in a consultation document in December.

GNER chief executive Christopher Garnett is to meet North-East stakeholders at an event in Newcastle on Monday when they will have a chance to put their views forward on the future of the key north-south link.

He said GNER, together with the rest of the rail industry, was gearing up for "exciting and challenging times" ahead and the company aimed to have its say on decisions over the future of the East Coast Mainline.

Radical plans for a £3.5bn upgrade were scrapped in January by the Strategic Rail Authority in a bid to slash costs.

They were replaced by a number of smaller scale improvement projects, mainly targeted at the Midlands and the south, which will cost more than a third less.

Ernie Preston, secretary of the North-East Rail Passengers' Committee, said: "There are problems that need to be solved immediately on the East Coast Mainline, namely the punctuality of the trains and the capacity available which needs to increase.

"Our worry is that the outcome of any consultation has already been pre-empted by the Strategic Rail Authority.

"A few years ago there was a massive upgrade in the pipeline but the Hatfield crash and Railtrack selling the family silver mean that it will now not happen, at least in the short to medium to term."