Updated 09.36Several open access proposals being considered by the Office of Rail and Road have been rejected. They include three from Virgin Trains as well as one each from Alstom and FirstGroup. The ORR says the reason in each case was the lack of capacity on the congested West Coast Main Line south of Rugby. Network Rail had objected to all the applications for capacity reasons, and also because of power supply limitations. Virgin would have used diesel units at first – probably Class 222s cascaded from the Midland Main Line – but was proposing to use new electric trains later on. The Virgin routes would have been from London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly, Rochdale and Preston, from London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street, and from London Euston to Birmingham New Street.  FirstGroup had been proposing to run six Lumo trains a day from London to Rochdale, using bi-mode rolling stock, and Alstom wanted to revive the London-Wrexham service which ceased in 2011, running diesel trains five times a day. If all the applications had been granted they would have occupied 62 paths on the WCML, 31 in each direction, and Network Rail had told the ORR that ‘there is insufficient capacity for additional services on WCML South Fast Lines; any additional services will impact performance and erode what timetable resilience there is’. The ORR’s director of strategy, policy and reform Stephanie Tobyn said: ‘After thorough assessment of each application, it was clear that there was insufficient capacity to approve any of the services without a serious negative impact on the level of train performance that passengers experience on the West Coast Main Line. ‘We recognise the potential advantages of competition on the West Coast Main Line, which is why we approved in 2024 the new London-Stirling services that First Group are due to start operating in 2026. However, it is clear that the southern end of the route requires space in the timetable to provide resilience.  Additional services within the current timetable structure and planned capacity use would further weaken punctuality and reliability, not just at the south end of the WCML but elsewhere as well.’ More applications are outstanding, including more from FirstGroup and one from Arriva to run between Newcastle and Brighton. Reactions have started to come in Virgin Group said: ‘Virgin’s proposed services on the West Coast Main Line would have delivered excellent value for customers and taxpayers alike by adding five million additional seats every year from a trusted brand with a track-record for delivering award-winning, reliable train services for its customers. ‘Today’s decision is a blow for consumer choice and competition.  We still believe, that given the opportunity, Virgin’s Open Access routes could play a valuable role in delivering the high-quality train services the British public deserve and GBR wants to encourage. ’Virgin Trains took the West Coast Main Line from eight million to 42 million passengers per year, all while increasing innovation, topping customer satisfaction surveys and trebling services. Anyone who remembers British Rail would rather forget it. Competition improves services, increases rail ridership, and drives better results for everyone, including the taxpayer. ‘For now, Virgin is focused on bringing much-needed competition to the cross-Channel route by igniting a new era in international rail services for travellers on both sides of the Channel.’ Do you have a comment on this story? Please click here to send an email to Platform at Railnews.

Network Rail and British Transport Police have launched a campaign to tackle the rising number of sometimes fatal incidents on the railway, many of them at level crossings. A total of 24 people lost their lives on the railway last year. The majority were trespassers, but five of the fatalities were at level crossings, bringing the total number of lives lost needlessly to a five-year high. Nationally, pedestrians were involved in 457 of the 467 near misses with trains at level crossings last year.  Research by Network Rail has revealed that at least some of these incidents could have involved people who were distracted by mobile phones. The industry is taking action in advance of the school summer holidays, when trespassing typically reaches an annual peak. Two new safety films have been produced which are intended to give their audiences ‘a powerful emotional impact’ by showing the real consequences of hazardous behaviour through the experiences of those who witness the results. One of the films explores the emotional impact on families when people have been badly injured on the railway, while the second features an NHS trauma specialist explaining the catastrophic injuries caused by getting hit by a train. As well as the risk to lives, safety incidents can often delay trains, and Network Rail said that last year more than a million minutes of delays were caused in this way. Paul Langley is head of security, crime and resilience at the Southern Region of Network Rail. He said: ‘Every fatality on the railway is a tragedy and the main focus of our work is to ensure that our railway is safe for staff, passengers, pedestrians and road users that come into contact with the network. ‘Unlike a human that can stop abruptly while walking, trains need the length of several football pitches to come to a stop. Only cross the railway at safe locations and, when doing so, remove all distractions so you can stop, look and listen. Only when you have determined that it is safe to cross, should you do so and you should cross the railway efficiently and safely. ‘The Southern Region is powered by the third rail and it is always on. If you come into contact with the electric rail it will hold you in its grip and cause death or severe injury.’ Do you have a comment on this story? Please click here  to send an email to Platform at Railnews. Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.

The contract to run the Royal Train will not be renewed when it comes to an end in March 2027, as part of wider efforts to reduce costs at the Royal Household which are being encouraged by the King. The special journeys made on the set of up to nine coaches will be replaced by two helicopters, although the royal family will continue to travel by service trains, according to Buckingham Palace. James Chalmers, keeper of the privy purse, said: ‘The royal train, of course, has been part of national life for many decades, loved and cared for by all those involved. But in moving forward we must not be bound by the past. ‘Just as so many parts of the royal household’s work have been modernised and adapted to reflect the world of today, so too the time has come to bid the fondest of farewells as we seek to be disciplined and forward in our allocation of funding.’ The rolling stock was last modernised in the 1980s, and was traditionally maintained at Wolverton Works in Buckinghamshire. Queen Elizabeth II was very fond of the train, but she also used ordinary trains from time to time, such as when she travelled with Prince Philip on a Thameslink train from London to open Luton Airport Parkway in 1999. She also used Great Northern services from London King’s Cross to travel to King’s Lynn on her way to Sandringham. On such journeys a modest area of first class was cordoned off for her, and she was accompanied by her usual security staff. The present King and other members of the royal family are expected to continue using service trains when it is convenient for them to do so. The tradition of special royal carriages started in the early days of railways. Queen Victoria’s future husband Prince Albert travelled with his brother on the Great Western Railway from Slough to Paddington in November 1839 in a special ‘posting carriage’ furnished with sofas, and was said to have found the experience ‘convenient and agreeable’. The GWR, hoping that the Queen would be persuaded, built the first Royal Carriage in 1840. The Queen used it for the first time on 11 June 1842, again between Slough and London, and was impressed, although she opposed ‘excessive’ speeds of more than 40mph (64km/h). Other large railway companies soon provided royal saloons, but the first complete royal trains were built for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897 by the Great Western Railway and the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway. The future of the last Royal Train after 2027 is not clear, although it may be opened on display to the public. Do you have a comment on this story? Please click here  to send an email to Platform at Railnews.

The Department for Transport appears to have hardened its stance over more open access, partly on the grounds that these services could siphon off unacceptable amounts of revenue from operators controlled by Great British Railways. A letter to the Office of Rail and Road from the DfT’s director-general for rail reform and strategy Richard Goodman, dated 20 June, also highlights the possibility of a conflict of interest between the National Rail Contracts still possessed by transport groups and their open access operations. He says such a possibility is ‘a risk which only increases as contracts approach their end and attentions shift towards new Open Access applications’. At the moment, FirstGroup still runs the contract for Great Western Railway and has the majority share in Avanti West Coast, but also operates open access services branded Lumo between London and Edinburgh, while Arriva owns Grand Central but still has the contracts to operate CrossCountry and Chiltern Railways. First has acquired two more open access contracts which will provide trains between London and South Wales, and London and Stirling, both of which will share at least part of their routes with GWR and AWC. However, First also has ambitions to run more open access services, including extending Lumo to Glasgow and also running new routes from London to Rochdale, Paignton and Hereford. Arriva, meanwhile, is promoting a new route between Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Brighton, while Alstom wants to revive direct services between London and Wrexham and Virgin wants to return to the West Coast Main Line by providing up to 35 departures a day from London Euston. Mr Goodman says: ‘DfT analysis suggests that the sum of annual abstraction of each of the currently live Open Access application would be up to £229 million (2024/25 prices), not accounting for the revenue impacts resulting from those services interacting.’ The Hereford proposal has also caused concern at Network Rail, which is worried about the presence of level crossings on the route and limited capacity nearer London. It is not the first time that the DfT has turned a cold shoulder on more open access.  Transport secretary Heidi Alexander warned on 6 January this year that ‘We need to be mindful of the impacts of Open Access such as the level of revenue they can abstract from contracted services and the associated implications for passengers and taxpayers.’ Almost a month later her department declined to support any new applications, apart from London to Wrexham, in a letter to the ORR dated 4 February. This said: ‘The Department welcomes the benefits that Open Access services can provide, including improved connectivity and choice for passengers, but, as the Secretary of State set out in her letter of 6 January 2025, we are clear that these benefits must outweigh costs to taxpayers and operational impacts.’ The managing director of FirstGroup’s rail division Steve Montgomery has expressed concern about the DfT’s approach, according to the Financial Times, which said that ‘the ORR was about to make final decisions on the applications for open-access operator licences before it’. Mr Goodman said in his letter that the Office of Rail and Road is likely to make decisions about at least some of the current applications at board meetings in the near future. Do you have a comment on this story? Please click here  to send an email to Platform at Railnews. Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.

No trains are running on the West Coast Main Line between Scotland and England, because the line has been blocked. Transpennine Express says the track is blocked by a fallen tree near Beattock Summit, north of Lockerbie, and overhead wires have been damaged. Avanti West Coast trains from London Euston are being terminated at Preston or Carlisle, and some services have been cancelled. TransPennine Express is ‘strongly advising passengers not to travel north of Carlisle’, because there are no trains running between Carlisle and Glasgow Central or Edinburgh in either direction and no replacement buses. Meanwhile, East Coast Main Line trains have been disrupted between Northallerton and Thirsk, because the emergency services are dealing with an incident involving a trespasser near Northallerton, who is reported by LNER to have been hit by a train. LNER said: ‘Trains are running, but there is major disruption, and you may be delayed.’ Do you have a comment on this story? Please click here  to send an email to Platform at Railnews.  Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.

Passengers on the Brighton Main Line may face cancellations and delays today and tomorrow, because of the high temperatures. The maximum in Croydon is forecast to be 31C today and slightly hotter tomorrow, and inland towns in West Sussex are likely to be almost as warm. Network Rail has imposed speed restrictions because the internal temperature of the rails could be 20C hotter than the air. Rails in Britain are pre-stressed to a rail temperature of 27C, which usually works well in our climate, but the force of trains weighing several hundred tonnes is made more extreme when temperatures are very high. One way of reducing that force is to run at lower speeds. Network Rail said: ‘With temperatures set to soar as forecast by the Met Office, speed restrictions have to be imposed across large parts of the network to ensure everyone’s safety. ‘We’re sorry but this means we won’t be able to run as many trains as normal and journeys will take longer. Trains that are running will also be much busier. If you are able to work from home then that may be your best option.’ Do you have a comment on this story? Please click here  to send an email to Platform at Railnews. Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.

The Railway 200 Exhibition train ‘Inspiration’ is welcoming the first members of the public at Bridgnorth station in Shropshire today. The train was at London Paddington for a formal launch yesterday, where rail minister Lord Hendy marked the start of a national tour which will take the train to 60 places in Britain as part of the Railway 200 national festival celebrating 200 years since the Stockton & Darlington Railway hauled the first trainload of passengers behind a steam locomotive in September 1825. Lord Hendy said: ‘I’m proud to be celebrating our heritage as the birthplace of the modern railway; to this day our railway network is the backbone of our economy, driving economic growth, jobs and homes. ‘With this train, we’re not just looking to the past, we are inspiring the diverse next generation of engineers, drivers, conductors and technicians, and shining a light on what the railway is delivering today and what it can do in future, alongside bringing services back into public ownership, laying the foundations for Great British Railways, and building a railway we can all be proud of.’ ‘Inspiration’ has four coaches which commemorate the railway’s achievements past and present and also invite visitors to consider a career in the modern industry. So far 27 visits have been announced from now until Christmas. Some of them are to heritage railways and museums, while others are at stations, including several of the London termini. The train’s visit to the Severn Valley Railway will last until 6 July, and it will then move on to Birmingham Moor Street, where it will open on 8 July for three days. Entry to the train is free, but visits need to be booked in advance. Do you have a comment on this story? Please click here  to send an email to Platform at Railnews. Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.

Updated 10.30The Railway 200 exhibition train 'Inspiration' is opening its doors to invited guests from the media today, after leaving Derby yesterday afternoon. Railnews has published the first pictures of the exterior of the train, which were taken shortly before it left Derby. It stopped overnight at Toton, and is now at Platform 1 of London Paddington for the media event. NEW  Images of the train at Paddington this morning are here. Members of the public are not being invited on board today, but tomorrow Inspiration will welcome its first booked guests at Bridgnorth on the Severn Valley Railway. It will remain at Bridgnorth until 6 July, and then move on to Birmingham Moor Street, where visits can be booked for dates between 8 and 10 July. Although the first part of its tour has been announced, most of the stations named so far are in Scotland, the Midlands, the North East and East Anglia. Other dates covering Wales and the West of England are expected to follow. All visitors to Inspiration, which celebrates 200 years since the Stockton & Darlington Railway first carried passengers on a locomotive-hauled train, must book in advance, although there is no charge for entry. However, the owners of some sites, such as heritage operators, may require their usual entry fees where these apply. Do you have a comment on this story? Please click here  to send an email to Platform at Railnews. Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.

Updated 10.30The Railway 200 exhibition train 'Inspiration' is opening its doors to invited guests from the media today, after leaving Derby yesterday afternoon. Railnews has published the first pictures of the exterior of the train, which were taken shortly before it left Derby. It stopped overnight at Toton, and is now at Platform 1 of London Paddington for the media event. NEW  An image of the train at Paddington this morning is here. Members of the public are not being invited on board today, but tomorrow Inspiration will welcome its first booked guests at Bridgnorth on the Severn Valley Railway. It will remain at Bridgnorth until 6 July, and then move on to Birmingham Moor Street, where visits can be booked for dates between 8 and 10 July. Although the first part of its tour has been announced, most of the stations named so far are in Scotland, the Midlands, the North East and East Anglia. Other dates covering Wales and the West of England are expected to follow. All visitors to Inspiration, which celebrates 200 years since the Stockton & Darlington Railway first carried passengers on a locomotive-hauled train, must book in advance, although there is no charge for entry. However, the owners of some sites, such as heritage operators, may require their usual entry fees where these apply. Do you have a comment on this story? Please click here  to send an email to Platform at Railnews. Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.

EXCLUSIVE: The first pictures of the Railway 200 exhibition train are being published by Railnews today, ahead of a formal media launch in London tomorrow.The images show the four-coach train, named ‘Inspiration’, at Derby, where it has been undergoing final tests.It is due to leave for London later today, to go on display to invited guests at a major London terminus tomorrow.After that it will travel to Bridgnorth on the Severn Valley Railway and open to the public for the first time on Friday.The train will make a 12-month tour of the network, stopping at selected stations to welcome visitors.Entry to the train is free, but must be booked in advance. _______________________________________ To see today’s images, click here._______________________________________ Do you have a comment? Please click here to send an email to Platform at Railnews. Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.