Addleshaw Goddard and Burges Salmon are among the firms advising on the new deal for train operator West Coast Mainline.

A competitive bid process for the franchise, which runs between London Euston and Glasgow Central, ended yesterday (August 14).

Under the terms of the deal, announced by the Department of Transport yesterday (August 14), FirstGroup will take on the franchise in a joint 70:30 partnership with Italian train operator Trenitalia.

The consortium, called First Trenitalia, will take over the franchise in December from Virgin Trains, which was barred from bidding for the route earlier this year.

FirstGroup is being advised by Burges Salmon, with rail industry specialist Simon Coppan leading the team.

Trenitalia is being advised by Italian law firm BonelliErede. London managing partner Massimiliano Danusso is leading the team advising on the tender.

Addleshaw Goddard advised the Department of Transport on the tender process, with partner Paul Hirst leading the team.

The contract will operate in two phases. The first, running until March 2026, will see First Trenitalia operate existing InterCity West Coast services.

In the second phase, running from March 2026 to 2031, First Trenitalia will then operate HS2 and the InterCity West Coast rail services together as an integrated operation.

Addleshaws also advised the government department earlier this year when a consortium of companies, including Virgin, attempted to overturn a decision that disqualified it from bidding.

Ashurst represented the consortium, West Coast Train Partnerships, made up of Virgin Trains, Stagecoach and SNCF.