THE GAME is up for the “failed franchising model,” rail unions said today after Transport Secretary Grant Shapps admitted that the South Western Railway (SWR) franchise is “not sustainable.”

Mr Shapps said that SWR had “not yet failed to meet their financial commitments,” but the Department for Transport (DfT) “must prepare suitable contingency measures.”

Potential options include issuing a new short-term contract to SWR’s owners — FirstGroup and MTR — or transferring operation of trains to public-sector body the Operator of Last Resort.