RAIL unions renewed their calls yesterday to drive privateers out for good following a damning indictment of Whitehall’s murky procurement deals.

A National Audit Office review questioned irregularities in the Department for Transport’s decisions awarding contracts for major rolling stock purchases worth billions of pounds apiece.

The auditors said they found department officials had “created confusion” in the industry by deciding to directly handle the procurement process for their Intercity Express and Thameslink contracts, rather than referring the project to consultants.