1 comment
Arriva has submitted an application to the Office of Rail and Road for an open access service between Manchester Piccadilly and London St Pancras International, which would be branded Grand Central.
Arriva said the proposed route would improve access to London Luton Airport and Alton Towers, and give Congleton and Uttoxeter their first direct trains to London, while creating new connections between the North West, Staffordshire and the East Midlands.
The calling points would be Stockport, Macclesfield, Congleton, Stoke-on-Trent, Uttoxeter (for Alton Towers), Derby, Loughborough, Leicester, Wellingborough and Luton Airport Parkway.
Arriva said the route would also give London Luton Airport a direct connection to the North West and Staffordshire, and that the timetable takes account of existing platform capacity at Manchester Piccadilly and London St Pancras International. Grand Central is seeking track access rights for seven years, with services planned to begin in May 2029.
Grand Central director Chris Brandon said: ‘For nearly 20 years, Grand Central has demonstrated the difference direct rail connections can make to communities like Sunderland, Hartlepool and Bradford. We want to bring those same benefits to more places, giving passengers greater choice and opening up new opportunities to travel sustainably on public transport.
‘This is an exciting and innovative proposal that would make better use of existing railway capacity to connect communities that have lacked direct long-distance rail links. By bringing new investment and competition to the network, at no additional cost to the taxpayer, we can deliver real benefits for passengers and the places we serve.
‘We look forward to working with the ORR and Network Rail as they consider our application.’
Readers’ comments
Arriva’s proposal rightly aims to improve through service connectivity from Manchester to theme parks, Derby, Loughborough University, Leicester and Wellingborough. That should grow the rail market to Manchester benefiting the connecting services which are slow, but available throughout the day. East West rail should consider a similar two hourly service (in the opposite hours to Arriva) starting from Crewe or Liverpool and Chester for the same theme parks, etc., before another open access operator does. John Porter, Leeds
What do you think? Click here to let us know.
Note to mobile users: please click on 'full site' to post a response