(4 hours ago)Adrian wrote And that's why the deregulated market is such a mess. Costs to the public purse spiralling, because operators can do this, and they have done for years. 

The worst examples are operators chucking services, losing the tender that's put out, then deciding they can run it commercially after all.

Operators taking on contract work on a commercial basis is a good thing for the tax payer. What Isn't is if that money doesn't exist as the savings is used to prop something else up and then the original route gets chucked in!