Mitchell halts Victoria sale
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• The proposed sale of Victoria Coach station has been halted by Transport Minister David Mitchell. He has told National Bus Company, which operates the main London terminal, to transfer it to London Regional Transport Mitchell says the Victoria terminal should remain in public ownership, at least until a longterm decision can be made on London's coach services.
A public inquiry is due to be held early next year into LRT plans for a major terminal in Paddington, West London, but no decision has been reached on how NBC will be compensated for the loss of the terminal, estimated to be worth up to £12 million. It is thought that several potential buyers have already made offers for the Victoria site.
Mitchell has asked NBC chairman Rodney Lund to meet London Regional Transport chairman Sir Keith Bright to discuss the best way of transferring the terminal to LRT.
Mitchell says it is important that the public inquiry should be able to consider all the strategies for coach stations in London before any options have been ruled out: "We cannot rule out the possibility that the evidence presented to the inquiry will suggest that there is a continuing long-term role for Victoria," he says. NBC is now more than half way through the sale of its operating subsidiaries and the transfer of Victoria delays its privatisation plans, which are expected to net some £200 million for the Treasury,