Open access plans gain Network Rail agreement

ASPIRING open access operator Great North Western Railway Company said it has come to agreement with Network Rail on the sale of access rights to begin the operation of two new direct services from the North of England to London on the West Coast Main Line.

One would provide six daily return journeys between London and Blackpool and the other between London, Manchester Victoria, Huddersfield and Leeds.

A period of industry consultation is now due to end early next month.

GNWR said its contract would still need approval from the ORR. If this is granted, GNWR will order eight Alstom Pendolinos and begin recruitment, with 200 jobs set to be created.

GNWR managing director Ian Yeowart said: “It has taken a significant amount of work since our initial application in 2011 to get to this point where Network Rail has agreed to the sale of access rights. There is still some way to go following full approval, as new rolling stock needs to be ordered and a full recruitment process needs to be undertaken. The target dates for operation are set to coincide with the full electrification of the two routes”.

The initial application was to serve four routes, including Bradford and the Cumbrian Coast, but with potential timetable and performance impacts on the WCML route, Network Rail is not in a position to agree further access rights yet, GNWR added.

Ian Yeowart continued: “Disappointingly not all our services are deliverable at the moment, but we will continue to engage with Network Rail to try and secure the capacity we need to address the issue in the future. A similar situation was faced by sister company Grand Central in 2006 when it began services to Sunderland from an application that included Sunderland and Bradford. Despite being rejected at the time, Bradford services began three years later ”

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