FIRSTGROUP’S disastrous financial results must not be used as an excuse to asset-strip and attack working conditions, unions warned today.

The train and coach operator, which runs the Great Western, South Western and TransPennine rail franchises, as well as the Greyhound bus company in the United States, announced a £326 million loss, prompting the resignation of chief executive Tim O’Toole.

Ominously, finance chief Matthew Gregory said that “all options are on the table,” adding: “Our obligation is to maximise value for shareholders.”

Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald said Mr O’Toole’s resignation “should ring alarm bells” for Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, whom he accused of “flailing around blaming anybody but himself” for the chaos on Britain’s trains.

Mr McDonald said: “The Transport Secretary is asleep at the wheel as the travelling public continues to pay a heavy price for his failure — he needs to wake up and accept responsibility for the complete mess he’s making of our railways.”

He added that FirstGroup was “clinging to the TransPennine Express franchise by its fingertips, which is yet further evidence, if any was still needed, that the franchising system itself is in disarray.”

RMT general secretary Mick Cash warned that FirstGroup seemed to be “preparing for another buyout move,” having rejected a takeover approach from US private equity giant Apollo Management last month.

Mr Cash said: “RMT is seeking assurances that the bunch of speculators eyeing up FirstGroup will not be allowed to asset-strip the British transport sector for the benefit‎ of their shareholders.

“We've seen from the chaos on our railways over the past two weeks just what happens when greed is allowed to let rip.”

Unite national officer Bobby Morton branded Mr O’Toole’s running of FirstGroup as “nothing short of a disaster marked by bus depot closures, attacks on workers’ terms and conditions and cuts that went too close to the bone.

“His legacy is one of managed decline and a company that is ill-equipped to cope with the everyday pressures a firm the size of FirstGroup should be able to take in its stride.

“As Tim O’Toole walks away and the takeover vultures circle, it is vital that the board gets the company back on track by appointing fresh leadership that invests in staff and values the workforce.”