RAIL services and standards could be badly hit when private firms take control of key routes next spring, according to transport chiefs.

And County Hall bosses are now planning to write to a government watchdog expressing fears about the future of Lancashire's rail network.

Private operators will get the chance to bid for the right to run rail services in Lancashire in coming months. And the aim is to move the whole of the rail network out of public sector control by next April.

The Office of Passenger Rail Franchising, or OPRAF, is the organisation responsible for overseeing the wide-ranging changes. The Government agency has already published a document which gives details of the minimum standards which private operators will have to maintain.

But county council officials are unhappy with the document and plan to raise their concerns at a top-level meeting. County council bosses are now drawing up a formal document listing their concerns and the meeting with OPRAF is planned for later this month.

Town halls across Lancashire will also be contacted by the county council to warn them of the threat to services.

Major areas highlighted by the county council include:

The plan to reduce services between Manchester and Preston.

The lack of safeguards for services Colne and Preston.

The plan to reduce services between Blackpool and Preston.

Moves which would allow operators to cut trans-Pennine services from Morecambe to Leeds.

The threat of reduced services on the Intercity West Coast line from London to Glasgow.

There are also fears that controls on timetable changes discount ticket schemes are not strict enough.

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