The British government will take over the London-Edinburgh rail passenger service from National Express Group PLC after the company said Thursday it ran out of funds to continue the money-losing franchise, according to AP. The struggling bus and rail operator said the Department for Transport had served notice that its franchise would be terminated on Nov. 13. National Express said it had burned through a 40 million pound ($66 million) loan that had been supporting the franchise. The company said its two other, profitable rail franchises were not immediately affected, though the government has said it intends to terminate those as well. National Express shares were down 1.6 percent at 319.5 pence on the London Stock Exchange. They had traded as high as 480 pence in September and early October when the company was in takeover talks. National Express, a major school bus operator in North America, the biggest bus operator in Spain and holder of three rail franchises in Britain, said it would announce its fundraising plans in November. The company, which is carrying 1 billion pounds ($1.65 billion) in debt, had originally been contracted to run the London-Edinburgh service until 2015, but the business lost 20 million pounds in the first half of this year because the recession had depressed traffic. National Express recently rebuffed a takeover approach by rival transport company Stagecoach Group PLC, and has said it will announce plans to raise new capital later this month. 0831 nov 09GMT
