UK: The Office of Rail & Road has given the go-ahead for Grand Union Trains to launch an open access passenger service between London and Stirling.
Access rights have been approved from June 2025 to June 2030. ORR said the services would use existing off-lease diesel trains, ‘likely Class 221 Super Voyagers or Class 222 Meridians.’
There would be four return services per day between London Euston and Stirling, calling at Milton Keynes Central, Nuneaton, Crewe (contingent rights only), Preston, Carlisle, Lockerbie, Motherwell, Whifflet, Greenfaulds and Larbert.
ORR said this would significantly increase direct journey opportunities to and from London and central and southern Scotland, while making use of existing network capacity.
The services would compete with public service contract operator Avanti West Coast, and to a lesser extent with Caledonian Sleeper, TransPennine Express, ScotRail and West Midlands Trains’ London Northwestern Railway business unit.
AWC and West Midlands Trains opposed the application on the basis that it would abstract unacceptable levels of revenue. ORR forecasts that Grand Union’s services will abstract revenue of £24·4m/year, predominantly from AWC. They also raised capacity and performance concerns.
Transport Scotland said there would not be significant revenue abstraction from ScotRail or Caledonian Sleeper, and while it would prefer an electric service it recognised the environmental benefits of rail over other modes.
Transport for Greater Manchester supported the application, saying diesel is a prudent decision for the earliest entry into service, although ‘regrettable from a carbon neutrality and air quality perspective’.
Transport Focus and CrossCountry supported the application, while the Department for Transport did not comment.
‘Our decision helps increase services for passengers and boost competition’, said Stephanie Tobyn, ORR’s Director, Strategy, Policy & Reform, when the approval was announced on March 7. ‘By providing more trains serving new destinations, open access operators offer passengers more choice in the origin and price of their journey leading to better outcomes for rail users.’
It would be the first open access service on the West Coast Main Line, and will operate without subsidy. In 2018 ORR approved a application by Grand Central to launch a London – Blackpool North service via the WCML, but the plan was scrapped because of the impact of the pandemic.
