Grand
Central


trains
will
soon
be
calling
at
Peterborough
for
the
first
time.

The
open
access
operator
has
been
given
approval
for
its
trains
to
call
at
Peterborough
twice
a
day
from
Monday
to
Saturday
by
the
Office
of
Rail
and
Road.

Grand
Central
began
running
on
the
East
Coast
Main
Line
between
London
and
Sunderland
in
December
2007.
After
Hull
Trains,
it
was
the
second
open
access
operator
on
the
route,
and
it
was
given
permission
by
the
regulator
to
call
at
York.

This
decision
proved
controversial
and
it
was
legally
challenged,
without
success,
by
the
franchised
operator
GNER,
which
withdrew
from
the
industry
soon
afterwards.

Grand
Central
added
a
second
route
between
London
and
Bradford
in
May
2010,
but
the
new
approval
for
Peterborough
marks
the
first
time
that
its
trains
have
been
allowed
to
call
at
an
intermediate
station
south
of
York.

The
ORR
said
it
supports
open
access
services
where
these
provide
competition
without
‘unduly’
affecting
performance.
It
also
considers
what
the
effect
will
be
on
Government
funds.
The
modern
successor
to
GNER
on
the
East
Coast
route
is
LNER,
which
is
nationalised.
Local
services
between
London
and
Peterborough
are
run
by
private
sector
Govia
Thameslink
Railway,
which
has
a
National
Rail
Contract.

The
ORR’s
director
of
strategy,
policy
and
reform
Stephanie
Tobyn
said:
‘Open
access
services
promote
competition
on
the
rail
network
and
give
passengers
more
choice
about
how
they
travel.
With
passenger
numbers
still
not
quite
recovered
following
the
pandemic,
it’s
important
that
the
network
provides
options
for
all
as
the
industry
looks
to
increase
passenger
journeys.

‘ORR
plays
a
crucial
role
in
overseeing
competition
on
our
railway,
and
we’ll
continue
to
assess
open
access
applications
with
the
goal
of
providing
greater
consumer
choice,
value
and
performance.’