A new ‘capital-to-capital venturer’ from Cardiff to Edinburgh is proposed by open-access operator Alliance Rail (AR), starting in December 2025. It is the first open-access intercity service not focusing on London.
An application is now under consultation, before being put to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), with permission sought by June. Five services a day in each direction (four on Sundays) are planned, calling at a number of major locations, offering end-to-end direct services, while also providing new direct journey opportunities and speeding up services.
The proposed calling pattern is: Cardiff Central, Newport, Severn Tunnel Junction, Gloucester, Birmingham New Street, Derby, Sheffield, Doncaster, York, Newcastle and Edinburgh.
Unspecified off-lease 125mph diesel rolling stock is planned, “potentially moving to new bi-mode (or other) rolling stock after a number of years of operation”. There are a number of off-lease vehicles under consideration, and all have route clearance for the entire journey. To maintain timings on the ECML, 125mph stock is necessary, but Network Rail (NR) says that no more electric traction can be accommodated on the northern section due to power supply issues.
AR Managing Director Ian Yeowart says that while competition across parts of the route will be provided on speed, price and quality, this is a route that currently has “insufficient seating capacity for many parts of the journey”.
Work has been ongoing for “some months” to evaluate capacity. NR and the ORR were advised of the aspiratio
