Virgin Trains plan return to West Coast Mainline

The Virgin Trains brand could return to West Coast Mainline services between London and the North West to challenge existing operator, Avanti West Coast.

Virgin Trains has submitted a bid to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) for an Open Access License to operate trains between London and Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Glasgow.

Should the license be granted, the move would see the Virgin brand return to the North West’s railways after a five year absence. The company had previously held the West Coast Mainline franchise until 2019, but was blocked from renewing the contract as partner, Stagecoach, did not meet Department for Transport financial rules. Stagecoach would not be involved in any future Open Access services delivered by Virgin Trains.

A spokesperson for Virgin Group said:

“While this application is just the first step towards exploring what might be possible, we think Open Access is the way forward.

“Open Access increases consumer choice and competition both of which Virgin has always supported.”

Under an Open Access License, rail companies shoulder all the financial risk of operations and run services without any taxpayer subsidies, unlike franchise holders such as Avanti and Northern. Avanti-owners, First Group, under their Lumo brand, already operate Open Access services between London and Edinburgh via the East Coast Mainline, and have also submitted a bid to run services between Euston and Manchester Victoria via Rochdale. Grand Union Trains, another Open Access operator are already using parts of the West Coast Mainline to run services between London and Stirling, via Milton Keynes and Crewe.

The pursuit of open access licenses on the West Coast Mainline comes as franchise-holder Avanti continues to face pressure over poor service on its network. Transport for the North’s board has already this year called on the DfT to strip the firm of the franchise after service levels deteriorated, despite improvements that lead to a contract extension last year.