THE OFFICEof Rail and Road has approved proposals from Grand Union Trains to introduce a new open access service along the West Coast Main Line from Stirling to London Euston, starting in June next year.
Grand Union aims to operate four return services per day between Stirling and London, calling at Larbert, Greenfaulds, Whifflet, Motherwell and Lockerbie in Scotland and in England at Carlisle, Preston, Nuneaton, and Milton Keynes, before terminating at London Euston. The chosen route avoids Edinburgh and Glasgow, with GUT stating that by avoiding the two congested Scottish cities, it will be able to provide a faster service without the need for passengers to change.
In announcing its decision, the ORR said it found that the proposed services would increase choice for passengers, significantly increasing direct journey opportunities to and from London and central and southern Scotland, while making use of existing capacity on the network.
It is GUT’s intention to eventually operate using an electric or bi-mode train fleet, but services are likely to initially utilise off-lease Class 22X trains. The 18 five-coach Class 221 Super Voyagers currently operated by Avanti West Coast are due to go off-lease following the introduction of the Class 805 and Class 807 fleets, while the Class 222 Meridians used by East Midlands Railway are also due to go off-lease following the introduction of Class 810 Aurora trains. The new Class 805, 807 and 810 trains are all being built by Hitachi at Newton Aycliffe.
ORR’s director of strategy, policy
