Dutch Rail’s British arm Abellio is a shortlisted bidder to run the lucrative route from London Euston to Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow, the Financial Times reports on Tuesday.

More than half Britain’s rail franchises come up for renewal in the next three years and the Glasgow route brought in pre-tax profits of almost €50m last year, the paper says.
The route is currently operated by Stagecoach, but FirstGroup, Abellio and Keolis (part of French state-owned railway SNCF) have also been shortlisted.
Last year, Abellio won its first stand-alone contract to run the Greater Anglia rail franchise. It also has several partnerships in Britain.