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Varamis Rail Class 321s & 325s”

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Carlisle

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Royston Vasey said:
Didn't run yesterday though. 1M05 is due out of Mossend at 15:04 and 1M04 at 17:34 today, see if they run...

1Y04 from BHI forms from 1M04 and is down as CAN already so suggests 1M04 won't run.
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How long can they continue to exist as a going concern whilst not earning anything?
 
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465fan

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Some of their 321s are apparently off for scrap next week.

Looks like it might be all over.
 
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Suraggu

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sad1e

sad1e

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Class15 said:
Is there a source for this information please?
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Might be quite optimistic but they might just be getting rid of the 321's as they have newly acquired 325's.
Will be sad to see 321's go now that their converted 321's are the last of the class left that is still operational.
 
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465fan

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sad1e said:
Might be quite optimistic but they might just be getting rid of the 321's as they have newly acquired 325's.
Will be sad to see 321's go now that their converted 321's are the last of the class left that is still operational.
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They got a prohibition notice served on them, for not having a Control function, and the driver who had a SPAD was the person who should have been on a 'Control Desk'. When this was found out, the ORR rightly hit the roof.

The operation has had a few questions, but the general jist of it seems to be that this is an operation that lacked the money or the ability to be competent to operate. The fact that the MD's twitter feed has gone dead silent probably tells you a lot.
 
Class15

Class15

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BranstonJnc said:
They got a prohibition notice served on them, for not having a Control function, and the driver who had a SPAD was the person who should have been on a 'Control Desk'. When this was found out, the ORR rightly hit the roof.

The operation has had a few questions, but the general jist of it seems to be that this is an operation that lacked the money or the ability to be competent to operate. The fact that the MD's twitter feed has gone dead silent probably tells you a lot.
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So basically, no hope of them returning?
 
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465fan

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Class15 said:
So basically, no hope of them returning?
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It's hard to say. But, if you're a small operator, and then do something quite silly, it becomes more difficult for you to come back as you then need to spend quite a lot of money to get yourself compliant again. Then you're under constant scrutiny, and if you're running the operation in this way, you're probably going to do it again.

Short answer, feels like they might be on the way out.
 
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Mollman

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BranstonJnc said:
It's hard to say. But, if you're a small operator, and then do something quite silly, it becomes more difficult for you to come back as you then need to spend quite a lot of money to get yourself compliant again. Then you're under constant scrutiny, and if you're running the operation in this way, you're probably going to do it again.

Short answer, feels like they might be on the way out.
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I guess the threat of GBRF also entering the parcels etc market won't help.
 
sad1e

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Mollman said:
I guess the threat of GBRF also entering the parcels etc market won't help.
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GBRF also has much newer parcels rolling stock and a lot more money to purchase stock with.

I see the Birmingham to mossend becoming GBRF parcels in the future if Varamis really is finished.

At least I've seen all their 321's
 
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465fan

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pokemonsuper9 said:
Where'd that news come from, aren't the 769/5s just being operated by GBRf for testing and they haven't said anything about operating them?
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Freightliner Heavy Haul are the operator for that obscure parcel network aren't they?
 
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87015

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BranstonJnc said:
They got a prohibition notice served on them, for not having a Control function, and the driver who had a SPAD was the person who should have been on a 'Control Desk'. When this was found out, the ORR rightly hit the roof.

The operation has had a few questions, but the general jist of it seems to be that this is an operation that lacked the money or the ability to be competent to operate. The fact that the MD's twitter feed has gone dead silent probably tells you a lot.
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Source please? If this is the alleged issue, but "hes" on the payroll of other OA operators with similar suggested "limitations" why havent they also had licenses withdrawn given they all share the same handshakes?
 
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800001

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sad1e said:
It very much so is over for Varamis, paths to Newport just gone in.

Realtime Trains | 5Q76 0934 Willesden Railnet Receptn to Newport Docks (Simsgroup) | 21/07/2025

Real-time train running information for 5Q76 0934 departure from Willesden Railnet Receptn to Newport Docks (Simsgroup) on 21/07/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.
www.realtimetrains.co.uk www.realtimetrains.co.uk
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But I thought they had 325s to replace the 321s so why is it very much over?
 
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87015

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sad1e said:
It very much so is over for Varamis, paths to Newport just gone in.

Realtime Trains | 5Q76 0934 Willesden Railnet Receptn to Newport Docks (Simsgroup) | 21/07/2025

Real-time train running information for 5Q76 0934 departure from Willesden Railnet Receptn to Newport Docks (Simsgroup) on 21/07/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.
www.realtimetrains.co.uk www.realtimetrains.co.uk
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Source? Theyve had unused untis dumped there for months for the fictional Liv St services, can you confirm theyve folded and what does that mean for the other companies who signed off the same staff?
 
sad1e

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87015 said:
Source? Theyve had unused untis dumped there for months for the fictional Liv St services, can you confirm theyve folded and what does that mean for the other companies who signed off the same staff?
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I don't have a source but from the rest of the information in this thread about them receiving a prohibition notice, and now scrap drags.

It certainly doesn't look good.
 
Class15

Class15

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87015 said:
Source? Theyve had unused untis dumped there for months for the fictional Liv St services, can you confirm theyve folded and what does that mean for the other companies who signed off the same staff?
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The Liv St ‘launch’ was well over a year ago and no service ever started… that was the first sign for me that not everything was right…
 
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AlistairCowell

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If Varamis is to be finished, then the only destination for their Class 321s and 325s I can think of will be Newport Unimetals.

It will be interesting to see what will happen to GBRF Class 769/5, at least that company is more firmer than Varamis. Let’s see what happens next for Varamis…
 
Royston Vasey

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87015 said:
Source? Theyve had unused untis dumped there for months for the fictional Liv St services, can you confirm theyve folded and what does that mean for the other companies who signed off the same staff?
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I wouldn't read too much into it, they have units there that they own and have never used, some of which reported still to have seats. Obviously all is not well given the time since they last ran a train, but stripping and scrapping an asset isn't the worst source of quick cash. Whether that is liquidating an asset, or liquidating the assets, we can only speculate.

They had £1.7 million of venture capital funding on 30th April 2024, but I suppose that doesn't go very far on the railway, especially when they were buying up more and more EMUs.

I am surprised the railway press haven't reported on any of this, yet.
 
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Suraggu

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Royston Vasey said:
I wouldn't read too much into it, they have units there that they own and have never used, some of which reported still to have seats. Obviously all is not well given the time since they last ran a train, but stripping and scrapping an asset isn't the worst source of quick cash. Whether that is liquidating an asset, or liquidating the assets, we can only speculate.

They had £1.7 million of venture capital funding on 30th April 2024, but I suppose that doesn't go very far on the railway, especially when they were buying up more and more EMUs.

I am surprised the railway press haven't reported on any of this, yet.
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Advenza Freight did something similar to keep going / pay for the class 66 leases towards their final months and we all know how that ended up.

Agreed I am surprised the railway press haven’t reported on it.

Varamis have not run a train in quite a while now. Their social media presence has fallen deathly silent and assets are being moved to the scrapyard. I have doubts they will bounce back.
 
DBS92042

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Suraggu said:
Advenza Freight did something similar to keep going / pay for the class 66 leases towards their final months and we all know how that ended up.

Agreed I am surprised the railway press haven’t reported on it.

Varamis have not run a train in quite a while now. Their social media presence has fallen deathly silent and assets are being moved to the scrapyard. I have doubts they will bounce back.
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Their last train ran just over 3 weeks ago but, as mentioned above, there's a chance they're getting rid of the five unconverted 321s they have. Will have to wait and see which ones go on Monday
 
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