THE RMT rail union is planning fresh protests ahead of the keys to the East Coast Mainline being handed back to the private sector.

On March 1 East Coast will become Virgin Trains East Coast after the Government awarded the franchise to a venture involving Virgin and Stagecoach in November last year.

The RMT said it was to organise protests at Kings Cross, Edinburgh Waverley and Doncaster stations this Saturday (February 28) on the final day of the route’s operation in public ownership.

Mick Cash, the RMT’s general secretary, said there had already been two previous private sector failures that took the inter-city route “to the brink of collapse”.

He said: “[This] is an act of industrial vandalism that will smash apart Britain’s most successful rail company for just one reason – it is publicly owned.”

Critics of the new franchise deal, which will run until March 2023, say Directly Operated Railways – which succeeded National Express in 2009 – has returned £1bn to taxpayers and has had record customer satisfaction ratings.

But the Government says the publicly-run firm has been unable to invest in new rolling stock and the new deal will mean more cash for the public purse – £3bn over the next eight years.

Rail Minister Claire Perry has promised a “transformation” of the franchise with a £140m investment package to improve trains, stations and car parks along the route and 65 new trains, being assembled by Hitachi, in Newton Aycliffe.

Customers, meanwhile, have been told it is “business as usual”.

An e-mail sent to users said the website eastcoast.co.uk would become virgintrainseastcoast.com on March 1.

Any tickets bought before March 1 will still be valid for travel with no changes to the way tickets are bought, changed or refunded.