Cheap rail tickets are often more hassle than they are worth, as Brian Souter is discovering. The Stagecoach chief executive’s bid to hop aboard National Express has now been foiled twice; the most recent effort was rejected late on Wednesday amid mutters about competition issues and inability to complete in time.

Leaving aside the fact that its own trains’ regard for timetables can be hit-and-miss, National Express is now running short on time itself. The bus and rail operator has two pressing problems: nearly £1bn net debt and the threatened withdrawal of two rail franchises by the Department for Transport. It aims to resolve the former with a rights issue, probably of about £350m, but there are plenty of roadblocks there too. The group issued a profits warning just last week; it has no chief executive and an underperforming US business. But the capital markets window is shuttering fast; any issue will probably have to be out in the next couple of weeks.