A BID by an independent rail company to run train services to London from the North-East was last night dismissed as "nonsense".

A spokesman for the Strategic Rail Authority claimed Grand Central Railway (GCR) plans, which are intended to operate on a commercial basis and without subsidy, would simply hit other train firm's revenues.

This could in turn lead firms to demand extra subsidies.

The SRA said the plans should be rejected by the Office for the Rail Regulator.

York company GCR wants to run four trains a day from Sunderland, Hartlepool and Eaglescliffe to London, but has run into opposition from the likes of East Coast Main Line operator GNER.

Ceri Evans, a spokesman for the SRA, said: "Grand Central is a nonsense whatever language you spell it out in and will cost taxpayers extra money.

"It will impact on timetables to the disadvantage of passengers and abstract revenue. Therefore, it is our view that they should not be given the paths they want."

The SRA is soon to be dissolved into the Department for Transport, but is among a number of consultees who have been canvassed by the Office for the Rail Regulator.

Last week, GNER chief executive Christopher Garnett said that if GCR was successful in its bid, his firm's profits could be hit by as much as £380m.

He suggested it would also seek to re-negotiate the £1.3bn it agreed to pay the Government to run East Coast services.

Ian Yeowart, Grand Central's managing director, was unavailable for comment last night.

But Brian Milnes, chairman of the Tees Valley branch of lobby group Transport 2000, said: "This is a nonsense. Four trains a day would hardly affect GNER's revenue.

"The only way taxpayers would lose money would be if they and the other train operators sued the Government under some stupid legal agreement and got money back. No one else seems interested in providing a service from Hartlepool, Stockton and Sunderland to London so they should be given a chance."