The Office of Rail and Road have rejected plans for direct trains to London from three companies, citing a lack of capacity on the West Coast Main Line.
All three applications have been rejected due to capacity on the southern end of the WCML, which could impact on current services and their performance.
The applications were:
- Virgin Trains
- Preston – London Euston via Manchester Victoria – five services a day and Rochdale – London Euston via Manchester Victoria – two daily services
- London Euston – Liverpool Lime Street – 9 daily services
- London Euston – Birmingham New Street – four daily services
- Wrexham, Shropshire and Midlands Railway
- London Euston – Wrexham – five daily services (Monday – Saturday) and four services on a Sunday
- Lumo
- London Euston – Rochdale – six services Monday – Saturday and five on a sunday
The ORR says that they recognise the advantages of competition on the WCML, pointing out that they have already approved Grand Union Trains / First Groups plans for Stirling – London trains, which are expected to start running in 2026.
“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.”
Stephanie Tobyn, ORR’s director of strategy, policy and reform
Responses
It’s just like when the London Euston-Blackpool North open access service that was cancelled entirely. I still believe that Virgin Trains will once again run new direct services to Liverpool Lime Street and Blackpool North. And Avanti West Coast to operate a new service to Shrewsbury.
Whilst Open Access operators have been great for growing the market such as in Hull and Bradford, the capacity in the London area is now so contested without major investments in stations etc adding more trains (which are generally shorter, but still require a whole platform and turnaround time, is only going to result in a worse passenger experience. Now if the OAO were to offer to take over a poorly-used path from a State Operator and grow demand that would be a way forward.
With the UK railway coming under the government’s control they will in fact have a monopoly over the whole network and on a purely commercial basis you would not want any competition, so this ruling does make sense. The Rochdale to London service did seem to be a bit pointless as there are already trains and light rail that run a very extensive service between Rochdale and Manchester. You need to remember that trains connect people, by making connections, to make connections we need lines to connect.
I fear that the Govt won’t want any competition from open access operators because it risks demonstrating the inefficiences of the state run services.
I note that Heidi Alexander, the Transport Secretary has recently told the ORR that it must also take into account “revenue abstraction” by open access operators from the Govt run services. I suspect that we’re seeing the start of a crack down on open access applications because the Govt doesn’t want competition with the services it runs.
I aren’t surprised by this ruling, but think it can be reversed
Is their ruling final?