NEW INFORMATION about the controversial award of the Intercity West Coast contract to FirstGroup may emerge today, as recently-appointed transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin is questioned for the first time by the House of Commons Transport Committee.

The Committee has already heard evidence from Virgin Trains and FirstGroup about the contract, which revealed that the major bone of contention appears to be the size of the financial buffer, called a 'subordinated loan', which FirstGroup was required to include.

Virgin claimed that the amount, in the region of £200 million, is only a third of what it should be having regard to the degree of risk involved, but FirstGroup pointed out that the DfT had performed the same analysis and produced the same figure.

The transport secretary, who will be joined by Department for Transport permanent secretary Philip Rutnam, can expect to be questioned about this disparity and the conflicting claims about risk, although the headline title of today's evidence session is 'The work of the DfT' rather than the West Coast franchise award.

Meanwhile, Virgin Trains has lodged a legal challenge to the decision, but a spokesman said a date for the first preliminary High Court hearing in connection with its petition for a judicial review had yet to be announced.

The lack of progress means that the signing of the West Coast contract with FirstGroup, which was awarded on 15 August, must remain on hold for now. It is known that the DfT is preparing contingency plans for a state takeover of the West Coast intercity service when the present Virgin franchise expires on 9 December.

A full judicial review could delay the transfer to FirstGroup until 2013, and if the court decides that Virgin's claim of DfT miscalculations is justified it is likely that the whole process of letting the West Coast franchise would have to be restarted at the prequalification stage.