Over the last few years, we have seen a number of railtour promoters come and go with either little or no action. Why do people think this is?
Are there any gaps to be filled in the market or is it just about saturated?
EMT are hiring out a spare HST every now and then. Do any other TOCs have stock free at weekends that would be suitable for charter trains/unusual routes/day trippers?
What do people think?
You have to consider whether it is easier (cheaper?) to set up an Open Access Operator and run scheduled services, (e.g. Saturdays Only etc).
A lot of routes (Settle & Carlisle etc) are over saturated with tours which makes competition extremely difficult. Rising costs from Network Rail/Insurance/Spot Hire also make railtour fares fairly high before they break even.
Virgin Trains run fairly regular charters using the Pretendolino and let you "hire" Pendolino carriages, (e.g. block reserve the coach).
Most franchised TOCs won't have anything spare at weekends.
I personally believe that International Railtours would work as part of a package, e.g. Manchester-Paris, including day time return travel with refreshments as well as a night in a decent hotel in Paris etc. Potential for going further afield if successful. That idea may be worth looking into with HS2...
Other than running on to Heritage lines I can't really see where the market is going. Would it be that hard for FGW to extend Paignton terminators to Kingswear in the Summer or holiday weekends?
