Virgin
Group

has
confirmed
reports
that
it
has
applied
to
the
Office
of
Rail
and
Road
for
open
access
rights
on
the
West
Coast
Main
Line.

The
move
comes
only
days
after
FirstGroup,
which
owns
the
majority
of
Avanti
West
Coast,
said
it
was
applying
to
run
open
access
services
between
Rochdale
and
London.

Virgin
lost
its
long-running
Intercity
West
Coast
operation
in
2019,
when
it
was
barred,
along
with
Stagecoach,
from
bidding
for
the
replacement
contract
in
a
dispute
with
the
Department
for
Transport
in
a
dispute
over
the
liability
of
train
operators
for
railway
pension
deficits.
The
new
franchise
was
won
by
a
consortium
of
FirstGroup
amd
Trenitalia,
trading
as
Avanti
West
Coast,
which
was
launched
in
December
2019.

Virgin’s
plans
are
the
most
ambitious
ever
proposed
by
a
potential
open
access
operator,
because
it
wants
to
run
between
London,
Birmingham
and
Manchester,
and
also
to
Liverpool
and
Glasgow,
offering
hourly
services
to
most
of
those
cities
and
two-hourly
to
Glasgow.
It
would
also
serve
Rochdale.

It
is
said
to
be
planning
to
use
‘ten
carriage’
trains,
although
nothing
more
has
been
said
about
where
they
would
come
from
or
how
they
would
be
funded
or
powered,
or
if
they
could
be
newly-built.

The
Office
of
Rail
and
Road
will
consider
the
proportion
of
revenue
abstraction
from
existing
operators
with
government
contracts.
Any
abstraction
would
mainly
affect
Avanti
West
Coast,
but
London
Northwestern
and
Chiltern
Railways
could
also
lose
business
between
London
and
Birmingham.

It
is
also
not
clear
whether
enough
paths
would
be
available
on
the
congested
West
Coast
Main
Line,
particularly
through
the
West
Midlands
and
south
of
Rugby,
but
one
report
claims
that
Virgin
would
be
applying
to
take
over
some
paths
now
held
by
Avanti
West
Coast
on
two
routes.
If
true,
this
would
be
the
first
time
that
paths
have
been
transferred
from
a
contracted
operator
to
an
open
access
operation.

Virgin
Group
is
quoted
as
saying
that
the
application
is
‘just
the
first
step
towards
exploring
what
might
be
possible’,
adding:
‘We’re
confident
customers
would
welcome
Virgin
Trains
back,
providing
them
with
much-needed
choice
and
competition.’

Labour
has
said
that
if
it
is
elected
the
operators
with
National
Rail
Contracts,
who
used
to
hold
franchises,
would
be
‘folded’
into
state-owned
Great
British
Railways
as
their
contracts
expire,
but
it
has
not
said
it
would
end
open
access
passenger
operations.

However,
it
also
said
that
the
Office
of
Rail
and
Road
would ‘make
approval
decisions
on open
access
applications
on
the
basis
of
an
updated
framework
and
guidance issued
by
the
Secretary
of
State’.