Meanwhile, the Rail Passenger Council said GNER's decision was "perfectly understandable" under the circumstances.

BBC: East Coast commuters told to book

GNER, which operates services from London to Scotland via Newcastle and Leeds, said the move was essential to avoid overcrowding.

BBC: East Coast commuters told to book

GNER, which runs services along the east coast, want an extension to their franchises as the price of further investment in new trains.

ECONOMIST: Railways

GNER, which is owned by Sea Containers, a bankrupt American firm, and runs what was expected to be a profitable service from London to York.

ECONOMIST: Britain's railways are privatised only in name

The committee also singled out Sunderland railway station as "austere" and criticised GNER for the way it handled passengers travelling with other firms at Newcastle Central Station.

BBC: Rail complaints at record levels

The project is the largest of its type in the UK and GNER's biggest single investment since it started running services on the East Coast Main Line.

BBC: Extra legroom for rail passengers

All of GNER's Mark 4 coaches will be rebuilt to the new design standard at Bombardier's Wakefield site, before entering passenger service on a rolling basis from September.

BBC: Extra legroom for rail passengers

Whereas I think that GNER have not got that experience.

BBC: News Online

Meanwhile, GNER was forced to cancel all services between Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow, Edinburgh and the north east of England, Yorkshire and London's King's Cross after the wind and snow brought down overhead lines in the Borders.

BBC: Passengers stranded in snow chaos

The east coast was ten year old, ten year old, ten year old - sorry ten year old track, ten year old trains - and was really quite a modern railway network, and yet Chris Green and the team at Virgin Trains actually got the performance of the west coast ahead of GNER in the last six months running up to Hatfield.

BBC: News Online