Christmas chaos fear over West Coast rail swap However, Patrick McLoughlin, the new Transport Secretary, told Parliament last week he would rather renationalise the line temporarily, which would put it into the hands of the state-owned Directly Operated Railways (DOR) company that operates the East Coast franchise. It is not thought that advanced plans have yet been enacted for DOR to prepare to take over the line. FirstGroup has begun preparations to take over, but it is understood it will not be able to fully implement them until it is confirmed as the new operator. Rail union RMT has threatened strike action on the West Coast line between London and Scotland as it claims staff have been left "without a clue" as to who will be operating the line in December, during one of the busiest times of the year as passengers return home. The concerns are likely to be raised when MPs debate the franchise in Westminster Hall this afternoon. A FirstGroup spokesman said: "The DfT told MPs last week they expect to sign soon. We have started preparations for taking over the line - including a significant meeting with Virgin last week about a smooth transition. A DfT spokeswoman said: "First West Coast Limited and the Department are both taking steps to ensure that the transfer of operations from Virgin goes smoothly on December 9." Although the Government has stepped in to salvage a franchise before, when National Express gave up the East Coast line in 2009, sources say that the West Coast line will take longer. In the East Coast scenario, DOR took over in mid-franchise, whereas West Coast has been run as a business that will cease to trade on December 8.