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National Express has won the franchise to operate the main rail route between London and Edinburgh.

A subsidiary of the bus and train operator, NXEC Trains Ltd, will run services as part of the new InterCity East Coast rail franchise, the Department for Transport (DfT) confirmed in a statement.

National Express will pay the DfT £1.4 billion over the life of the franchise, which will run from December this year until March 31st 2015 – although the last 17 months of the contract are dependent on performance targets being reached.

The government claims that the new contract will result in faster journeys for passengers and more trains running on time, with NXEC committed to reducing train delay minutes by 29 per cent by the end of the franchise.

Company bosses have also pledged to spend £7.4 million upgrading stations, while the DfT stressed that there was also provision in the franchise for up to 25 extra train services each weekday – the equivalent of providing around 14,000 extra seats on services.

New services will also operate between London and Lincoln and London and York, at two-hourly intervals, under the new rail contract.

Commenting on the awarding of the East Coast contract, rail minister Tom Harris said other rail franchises were already delivering on government plans to boost capacity and performance on the railways and to improve train connections between key towns and cities.

"Passengers travelling on the East Coast main line will see similar enhancements," he stressed.

National Express, which says that the franchise is expected to generate total annual revenue of £600 million in its first full year, said that it was confident of increasing passenger numbers along the route by providing a service that offered value for money and made travel "simpler".

"We are absolutely delighted that we have won the UK's premier intercity railway," said National Express group chief executive Richard Bowker.

"We have an exciting package of innovation and investment aimed at making these services attractive to many more people. We will offer improved reliability, more trains and seats, easier ways to purchase tickets and an updated catering offer," he explained.