The transportations authorities in the UK have asked the Virgin to continue operating the country's west coast rail service till government sorts out the matter relating to the service.

The decision to ask the private company to continue operations comes as surprising development as the government has earlier awarded to a rival company. The new franchise deal was granted to Virgin’s rival, FirstGroup instead of Virgin Trains. The government had to review its decision to grant the franchise to FirstGroup after it discovered flaws in the way the deal was awarded.

The Department for Transport (DfT) had recently said that it will no longer contest the Judicial Review about how the West Coast Main Line (WCML) franchise was awarded in August. Due to the legal challenge posed by Virgin Trains, First Group will not likely to receive keys to the line on 9 December.

Virgin had offered to run the line free of cost until the matter is resolved. However, some leaders might be considering the option of nationalizing the line on a temporary basis. The leaders have raised concerns about how the decision to change the franchise would affect fares and levels of service on the route.

More than 100,000 members of the public have signed a petition against the decision and it is also being supported by several celebrities including host of TV show The Apprentice, Lord Sugar, and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.