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THE first open access services on the West Coast Main Line have been approved by the Office of Rail and Road.
ORR will allow Grand Union Trains to run four return services a day between Stirling and London Euston, starting in 2025.
The trains would call at Larbert, Greenfaulds (for Cumbernauld), Whifflet (for Coatbridge and Airdrie), Motherwell and Lockerbie, and in England at Carlisle, Preston, Crewe, Nuneaton and Milton Keynes Central.
Larbert, Greenfaulds and Whifflet would all gain their first direct services to London.
The route avoids busy Edinburgh and Glasgow stations, which Grand Union said would offer faster services with no change of train necessary.
The company said it will use Class 22X trains that are stored off-lease. In the longer term, it aims to use electric or bi-mode trains, but added that “with current power supply being an issue on the WCML” it would use diesel power throughout the electrified route.
It is Grand Union’s second planned route. It also aims to run trains from Carmarthen to London Paddington on the Great Western Main Line - the first open access services on that route as well.
However, it has not yet been able to secure rolling stock and stated that an intended 2025 launch date “is not currently achievable”.
ORR found that the proposed WCML services would increase choice for passengers, significantly increasing direct journey opportunities to and from central and southern Scotland, while making use of existing capacity on the network.
Open access services do not receive central government funding as they do not have a franchise agreement with the Department for Tra
