A CALL for rail companies to be able to compete with one another on the same routes smacks of “the market gone mad,” train drivers scolded yesterday.

A report from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) called for more competition from “open access” operators on the East Coast, West Coast and Great Western main-line routes. The findings were welcomed by transport ministers.

Such operators — with licences for individual train routes instead of holding a franchise for statutory services — have already started new services to destinations previously not connected to London, including Hull and Sunderland.

However, they have increasingly been bought up by transport giants such as First Group and Arriva.

The regulator said the policy could lead to lower fares, greater incentives for rail firms to improve services and more effective use of network capacity.

CMA chief executive Alex Chisholm said: “There is strong evidence both here and abroad of the benefits that the introduction of competition on main-line intercity routes can bring.”

But “competition in the rail industry is a myth,” train drivers’ union Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said.

“There is only one set of tracks. The only competition in the railways is during the bidding process for a franchise.

“We know the Tories are wedded to a neoliberal free-market philosophy, but this really is the market gone mad.

“The idea that anything in this report would improve Britain’s rail network is risible to anyone who works in, and understands, our industry.”