West Coast Open Accesss

[Seanog]

Virgin & Lumo are planning to run trains on the West Coast Mainlne. Avanti already runs a service there. Are there that many passangers to make it viable for all 3?.How about an open access service on the London Penzance line……evry time I travel, it’s jam packed from Taunton about half way…..

 

[JamieL]

Virgin & Lumo are planning to run trains on the West Coast Mainlne. Avanti already runs a service there. Are there that many passangers to make it viable for all 3?.How about an open access service on the London Penzance line……evry time I travel, it’s jam packed from Taunton about half way…..

The Avanti trains are normally fairly packed as well. I am not a fan of Open Access - Lumo is awful - but perhaps Virgin can come in with a decent offering.

 

[PyrahnaRanger]

I’d say… it depends.

If they can do it cheaper than Avanti, possibly. Presently, I use mostly off peak trains from Euston to Carlisle, and if theyre off peak, I’m not sure I’d like to see peak! However I only use the train because work are paying for it - the car is nearly always cheaper, and on a number of journeys, faster - especially if heading East-West.

It probably also depends on their stopping patterns - I’d rather not use one that crawls via Birmingham stopping at every lamp post if I can go direct. Again, price will have a bearing, although as my employer is paying, I can afford to be a little bit more lax.

Let’s watch and see what paths they get - if any.

 

[Sorcerer]

Are there that many passengers to make it viable for all 3?

There most certainly are enough passengers. The real issue is whether or not there will be enough space to accommodate the extra trains, and with how congested the WCML is right now, especially on the southern section, the most likely answer to that is no. At the very least Virgin will not be getting all of their desired services at the frequency they proposed.

 

[Tazi Hupefi]

None of this is going to be possible anyway, regardless of any press releases, at certainly not until/unless HS2 is finished AND something is sorted out that resolves the capacity issue at Handsacre.

Also surely assumes that the existing Avanti services won't run as frequently, having moved across to HS2.

It's not viable from a revenue perspective either with stops at Crewe or further South - the West Midlands only fares are dirt cheap, and an open access operator couldn't undercut them and make a profit.

I do wonder whether there is potential terminating them somewhere else like Birmingham International / Coventry instead, in the absence of paths towards London. The North West - Birmingham is a decent market with lots of potential, and poor XC and WMT services.

 

[swt_passenger]

Existing thread on Lumo WCML:

Lumo applies to operate Rochdale - London

Article suggests Lumo have applied for permission to run 6 trains a day between Rochdale and London via Manchester Victoria, Eccles, Newton le Willows, Warrington Bank Quay Will be run with new battery electric units FirstGroup plans to expand its open access rail operations as part of its...

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Existing thread on Virgin WCML:

Virgin Group explores the return of Virgin Trains as an Open Access operator

How does the ORR handle multiple operators applying for the same path? It considers them all at the same time and applies its criteria. The same as they have been doing since 1999 when WAGN, LNER and what became Hull Trains were looking at the same paths.

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