The UK Government has suggested Avanti West Coast could see its contract extended by 10 years despite its dismal performance record.
Tory transport minister Charlotte Vere told the House of Lords that the train operator - which runs services between Glasgow Central and London - could still win the franchise for the west coast mainline.
This comes after the UK Government decided to grant a short-term contract renewal to Avanti earlier this week. The operator has often cancelled and delayed services in the past year.
It was forced to provide an improvement plan to the Department for Transport as part of the six-month contract renewal which was due to expire at the end of March.
When asked by Labour peer Baroness Sharon Taylor of Stevenage about reports that the contract could be extended for another decade, Baroness Vere replied: "In terms of the process for the next round of contracts for the west coast... the publication of the 10-year period was a statutory notice. Should it go to Avanti, the six-month contract would be taken off it.
"Should it go to another operator, it might be for up to 10 years. I don't think the honourable lady should read too much into the 10 years, it could be any period up to that amount."
Labour peer Baroness Pauline Bryan of Partick said many Scots felt "despair" when the six-month extension was granted and called for the line to be publicly run.
She said: "As a Scottish user of Avanti, I hope the minister can understand the despair we felt when we heard this decision. We on the west coast look in envy at the east coast trains. Can she explain why the west coast line wasn't taken into public ownership after such a disastrous performance?"
Baroness Vere replied: "I am aware that some of the challenges of travelling down the west coast from Scotland, many of those are actually due to infrastructure changes that are happening in the north of England.
"Sometimes it is very tempting to compare the west coast to the east coast. There is one other element of the east coast which I think is worth thinking about and that is that it has competition.
"There are open access operators on the east coast as well. And I think that plays a contributing factor in making the services better all round."
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