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Virgin Trains

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Virgin Trains
File:Virgin Trains logo.png
Overview
Franchise(s)InterCity West Coast
9 March 1997 — present
Main route(s)London - Scotland
London - West Midlands
London - North West
Other route(s)London - North Wales
West Midlands - Scotland
Fleet size56 Class 390 Pendolino sets
20 Class 221 Super Voyager sets
7 Class 57/3 Thunderbird diesel locomotives
10 Mark 3 carriages
2 Driving Van Trailers
Stations called at42
Stations operated17
Parent companyVirgin Group (51%)
Stagecoach (49%)
Reporting markVT
Other
Websitewww.virgintrains.co.uk

Virgin Trains[1] is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Virgin Group (51%) and Stagecoach (49%) that has operated the InterCity West Coast franchise since March 1997. Virgin Trains operate long-distance passenger services on the West Coast Main Line between London, the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and Scotland. Virgin Trains' franchise was due to expire in December 2012. Although the franchise was subsequently awarded to First Group, in October 2012 the government announced it was cancelling the franchising process for the InterCity West Coast franchise after finding significant technical flaws in the way the franchise process was conducted, with the government to negotiate a franchise extension for 9 to 13 months with Virgin Trains.

History

Virgin Rail Group was formed by Virgin Group to bid for rail franchises in the United Kingdom during the Privatisation of British Rail. Virgin Rail Group bid for a number of rail franchises being awarded the InterCity West Coast franchise in January 1997 after beating Sea Containers and Stagecoach[2] with operations commencing on 9 March 1997.

In October 1998 Virgin Group sold 49% of the shares in Virgin Rail Group to Stagecoach.[3]

When Virgin won the franchise, Railtrack was to upgrade the West Coast Main Line to allow tilting trains to operate at 140 mph by 2005. In July 2002 in the wake of the collapse of Railtrack and the inability of Network Rail to deliver on the 140 mph West Coast Main Line upgrade, both the Virgin CrossCountry and Virgin West Coast franchises were suspended in favour of management contracts.[4] Due to costs having blown out from £2.5 billion to £10 billion there were cutbacks to the upgrade and the top speed reduced to 125 mph.[5]

Services

Class 390 Pendolino 390001 Virgin Pioneer arrives at Watford Junction
Standard Class aboard a Class 390 Pendolino
First Class aboard a Class 390 Pendolino
First Class aboard a Class 221 Super Voyager

On 25 May 1998 Virgin introduced new services from London Euston to Shrewsbury and Blackpool North. The former ceased in 1999, the latter on 17 May 2003.[6][7] On 27 September 2004 a London Euston to Llandudno service was introduced ceasing on 12 December 2008.[8]

In September 2005 Virgin introduced its first 125 mph timetable following the completion of Stage 1 of the upgrade.

On 9 December 2007 as part of a reshuffle of rail franchises by the Department for Transport, services from Birmingham New Street to Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central via Crewe were transferred from the CrossCountry franchise to the InterCity West Coast franchise.[9]

On 15 December 2008 a Wrexham to London Euston service was introduced operating south in the morning with an evening return.[10][11]

On 16 February 2009 an hourly London Euston to Chester services was introduced.[12]

From January 2009 Virgin Trains gradually rolled out a new Very High Frequency timetable to take advantage of the completed West Coast Main Line upgrade and this is the basis of the current timetable on these routes:

London - Birmingham - Wolverhampton[13]

Route Calling at Main stock
A London Euston to Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton London Euston, Watford Junction, Milton Keynes Central, Rugby, Coventry, Birmingham International and Birmingham New Street, with some services extending to Sandwell and Dudley and Wolverhampton Pendolino

London - Manchester[14]

Route Calling at Main stock
B London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly London Euston and Milton Keynes Central, branching off via Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield or Crewe and Wilmslow, and continuing to Stockport and Manchester Piccadilly Pendolino

London - Stafford - Liverpool[15]

Route Calling at Main stock
C London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street London Euston, Stafford, Runcorn and Liverpool Lime Street Pendolino

London / West Midlands to Chester / North Wales[16]

Route Calling at Main stock
D London Euston to Chester, Holyhead and Wrexham General London Euston, Milton Keynes Central, Crewe and Chester, with one service extending to Wrexham General and others via Flint, Prestatyn, Rhyl, Colwyn Bay and Llandudno Junction to Bangor (Gwynedd) or Holyhead, with one weekday service between Birmingham New Street and North West Wales. Super Voyager

London - The North West - Glasgow[17]

A Class 221 Super Voyager seen near Edinburgh
Route Calling at Main stock
E London Euston to Glasgow Central London Euston, Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme Lake District, Penrith, Carlisle and Glasgow Central Pendolino

Birmingham - The North West - Scotland[18]

A map of Virgin Trains services showing the off-peak service pattern each hour
Route Calling at Main stock
F Birmingham New Street to Glasgow Central or Edinburgh Waverley Birmingham New Street, Wolverhampton, Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme Lake District, Penrith, Carlisle, continuing to Glasgow Central or Haymarket and Edinburgh Waverley Super Voyager
Class 87 electric locomotive and Mark 3 carriages

Performance

Virgin Trains suffered poor punctuality compared with some other transport operators between 2001 and 2006, according to Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Punctuality has gradually improved, and the latest figures published on Virgin Trains' website were 89.1% for the last 4 recorded weeks (24 July to 20 August 2011).[19]

The PPM MAA (Public Performance Measure Moving Annual Average - % of trains arriving within 10 minutes of the scheduled times) figures for Virgin Trains are as follows:

Financial year to 31 March 2002: 68.7%[20]

Financial year to 31 March 2003: 73.5%[21]

Financial year to 31 March 2004: 74.8%[22]

Financial year to 31 March 2005: 72.1%[23]

Financial year to 31 March 2006: 83.5%[24]

Financial year to 31 March 2007: 86.0%.[25]

Financial year to 31 March 2008: 86.2%.[26]

Financial year to 31 March 2009: 80.0%.[27]

Financial year to 31 March 2010: 84.6%.[28]

Financial year to 31 March 2011: 86.6%.[29]

The latest figures published were 87.8% (PPM) for the fourth quarter of 2010-11 and 86.6% (MAA) up to 31 March 2011.[30] The quarterly performance is up 4.3 percentage points on the corresponding figure from the same period a year earlier.

Chris Green as chief executive[31][32] led a drive to improve reliability and punctuality after much press criticism in 2001, and by 2006, due to improved reliability of trains and completion of major infrastructure projects, performance was better. Virgin has undertaken a number of projects to increase punctuality, including radio-controlled watches.[33]

Grayrigg derailment

Main article: Grayrigg derailment

On 23 February 2007 a Class 390 Pendolino forming the 17:15 London Euston to Glasgow Central service derailed near Oxenholme.[34] The train was carrying 109 people. Several carriages were left lying on the railway embankments. An elderly woman was fatally injured in the derailment and died in hospital. Five people were seriously injured. The accident was caused by a faulty set of points.[35] The train itself was widely praised for the way it retained its structural integrity.

Rolling stock

Virgin inherited a fleet of Class 86, Class 87 and Class 90s hauling Mark 2 and Mark 3 carriages with Class 82 Driving Van Trailers on its electrified services and High Speed Trains for London Euston to Holyhead services.

A franchise commitment was the replacement of these trains with new tilting stock. In 1999 Virgin signed a deal to lease forty-four eight-carriage and nine nine-carriage Class 390 Pendolinos built by Alstom.[36] An option to extend all to nine carriages was enacted in 2002. The first entered service in January 2003. With the exception of services to Holyhead, the final locomotive hauled trains were withdrawn in June 2005.[37]

To operate the Holyhead services four four-carriage Class 221 Super Voyagers were included in the order placed by Virgin CrossCountry. By the time they were delivered it was decided these would be too short so they entered service with Virgin CrossCountry. In September 2004 the High Speed Trains were withdrawn with services being operated by a combination of five-carriage Class 221 Super Voyagers hired from Virgin CrossCountry and Class 47 and Class 90 hauled Mark 3 sets. From September 2005 Class 57/3s hauling Class 390 Pendolinos took over the locomotive hauled diagrams. This continued until December 2008 when five-carriage Class 221 Super Voyagers took over all services.

With the Class 390 Pendolinos needing modification in 2006, a First GBRf Class 87 was hired to haul a Mark 3 set on Birmingham New Street services.[38]

To operate the Birmingham to Edinburgh and Glasgow services transferred from CrossCountry in December 2007, three four-carriage and thirteen five-carriage Class 221 Super Voyagers were transferred. A further five five-carriage Class 221 Super Voyagers followed in December 2008.[39]

In August 2008 Bombardier started a programme to rearrange the Class 221 Super Voyagers with the carriage containing the shop moved to adjoin the first class carriage and refurbished with 2+2 seats arranged more spaciously around tables. This allowed it to be used as a first class carriage on Holyhead services and as a standard class carriage at other times.[40][41]

In December 2010 one four-carriage Class 221 Super Voyager was disbanded with the two centre carriages being inserted into the other four-carriage sets to give Virgin a fleet of twenty five-carriage Class 221 Super Voyagers.[42] The two end carriages are stored at Central Rivers depot.

To provide it with a fleet of locomotives for use on diversionary services during the West Coast Mainline upgrade and rescue duties, Virgin signed a deal with Porterbrook in March 2002 to rebuild twelve Class 47s as Class 57/3s with the first delivered in June 2002.[43] After it was decided they would operate daily services along the North Wales Coast to Holyhead, another four were ordered from Porterbrook.[44] Following the completion of the West Coast Main Line upgrade in 2008 their use fell and after being sublet to Arriva Trains Wales, Colas Rail and First GBRf, six were returned to Porterbrook in August 2011[45] and three in April 2012.[46]

Virgin had long been angling for a franchise extension in return for ordering extra carriages for the Class 390 Pendolinos. The Department for Transport rejected this and instead placed an order itself with Alstom for 106 carriages allowing for four complete eleven-carriage sets and 31 sets to be extended by two carriages.[47][48] There was an option to extend the remaining 21 sets but this was allowed to lapse. The four new sets were delivered in 2011/12 while 31 sets are currently receiving extra carriages with all to be complete by December 2012. This has required a number of stations to have platforms lengthened.

Following the loss of a Class 390 Pendolino in the Grayrigg derailment, a Mark 3 set with a Class 82 Driving Van Trailer was leased with a Class 90 hired from EWS as required. In 2008 Virgin looked at leasing two Class 180[49] but decided to retain the Mark 3 set. Nicknamed the Pretendolino, this received re-upholstered seating, power points, wi-fi and a full external re-paint at Wabtec, Doncaster in 2009.[50] Virgin uses this set with a Class 90 locomotive hired from Freightliner on the 18:43 Euston to Crewe (via Birmingham) Friday relief service, and also hires the train out as a charter train. It sometimes is used on London - Birmingham services in the event of a Pendolino shortage. It was used in the filming of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and can be seen at King's Cross station at the end of the film.

All seats on Class 221 Super Voyagers and Class 390 Pendolinos originally had an on-board audio entertainment system featuring a number of radio or pre-recorded music channels. This was disabled in March 2010[51][52] and replaced with on-board WiFi provided by T-Mobile.[53][54] The service is available free in first class, and for a charge in standard class.[55]

 Class  Image  Type   Top speed   Fleet Size   In traffic   Routes operated   Built   Notes 
 mph   km/h 
Class 57/3 Thunderbird Diesel locomotive 95 153 7 7 Thunderbird locomotive 2002–2004 Originally fleet of 16, 6 returned to Porterbrook September 2011 and leased to Network Rail, 3 returned to Porterbrook April 2012 and leased to Direct Rail Services.
Class 221 Super Voyager Diesel-electric multiple unit 125 200 21 20[56] London - Chester/Holyhead
Birmingham - Glasgow/Edinburgh 		2001–2002 221142–221144 originally four-car sets; 221144 was disbanded to make 221142 & 221143 five-car sets and its driving cars stored at Central Rivers depot; after a period based at Crewe railway station for training purposes.
Class 390 Pendolino Electric multiple unit 140 225 57 56 London - Birmingham/Wolverhampton
London - Manchester
London - Liverpool
London - Glasgow 		2001–2004
2009–2012 		390033 stored after Grayrigg derailment. Pendolino (from Italian Pendolo) refers to tilting trains
Class 90[57] Electric locomotive 110 180 Hired from Freightliner Relief train
Charter Train
Spare Train 		1987–1990 Part of Virgin hauled set
Mark 3 Carriage[57] Passenger carriage 125 200 10 9 Relief train
Charter Train
Spare Train 		1975–1986 (refurbished 2009) Part of Virgin hauled set
5 TSO, 1 RFM and 3 FO vehicles in use
1 RFM vehicle stored
Driving Van Trailer 125 200 2 1 Relief train
Charter Train
Spare Train 		1988 (refurbished 2009) Part of Virgin hauled set
82126 in use
82101 stored

Depots

The Class 390 fleet is allocated to the Alstom Traincare Centre at Longsight with lighter maintenance and overnight servicing carried out at Wembley, Oxley, Edge Hill and Polmadie depots. The Class 221 fleet is allocated to Bombardier's Central Rivers depot with lighter maintenance and overnight servicing carried out at LNWR, Crewe and Holyhead. The Class 57/3 fleet is allocated to Alstom Traincare Centre at Longsight.

Future franchising arrangements

Main article: InterCity West Coast

Virgin Trains's franchise was due to expire on 31 March 2012. In 2009 Richard Branson launched a campaign to have the next franchise period extended for 20 to 30 years, so that Virgin would be able to spend more on infrastructure and be able to see a return on investment.[58] Branson said the journey time between London and Birmingham could be reduced by 22 minutes to under one hour. This was turned down by the Department for Transport. Virgin had applied for a two-year extension but this was ruled out by the Department of Transport on legal grounds.[59]

In January 2011 the Department for Transport called for expressions of interest in bidding for the next InterCity West Coast franchise.[60] In March 2011 the Department for Transport announced that Abellio, FirstGroup, Keolis/SNCF and Virgin had been shortlisted to bid for the franchise.[61] In May 2011 the Secretary of State announced the end date had been postponed to allow the recommendations in the McNulty Report to be absorbed.[62] In October 2011 the Department for Transport announced that Virgin had been granted a franchise extension until 8 December 2012.[63]

The Invitation to Tender was issued to the shortlisted bidders in January 2012.[64] On 15 August 2012 the Department for Transport announced that FirstGroup had been awarded the new franchise.[65]

On 3 October 2012 the Secretary of State for Transport announced the government was cancelling the franchise competition for the InterCity West Coast franchise after discovering significant technical flaws in the way the franchise process was conducted, reversing the decision to award it to FirstGroup. Following an independent review of the franchising process, a fresh competition will be held.[66] On 15 October 2012 it was announced that the government was negotiating with Virgin Trains would run the InterCity West Coast franchise for a further 9 to 13 months from December 2012.[67][68]

See also

References

  1. ^ Companies House extract company no 3007940 West Coast Trains Limited
  2. ^ Virgin pledges tilt trains for West Coast The Independent 31 January 1997
  3. ^ Virgin passengers get 'better deal' BBC News 7 October 1998
  4. ^ Supplementary memorandum by the Strategic Rail Authority House of Commons Publications 22 July 2002
  5. ^ West Coast railway upgrade under threat The Telegraph 24 July 2003
  6. ^ Pride of Shrewsbury The Encyclopedia of Modern Traction Names
  7. ^ Rail Magazine Issue 462 28 May 2003 Page 14
  8. ^ Virgin Trains Restore London to Llandudno Daily Service greatorme.org.uk
  9. ^ New Cross Country Franchise Consultation Document Department for Transport June 2006
  10. ^ Wrexham joins the Virgin network Virgin Trains Press Release 15 December 2008
  11. ^ Rail Magazine Issue 586 27 February 2008 Page 11
  12. ^ Roman legionnaires swap chariots for trains Virgin Trains Press Release 16 February 2009
  13. ^ Virgin Trains Timetable A
  14. ^ Virgin Trains Timetable B
  15. ^ Virgin Trains Timetable C
  16. ^ Virgin Trains Timetable D
  17. ^ Virgin Trains Timetable E
  18. ^ Virgin Trains Timetable F
  19. ^ "Virgin Trains' Performance" (PDF). Virgin Trains.
  20. ^ "National Rail Trends 2001-2002 Quarter Four" (PDF). Strategic Rail Authority.
  21. ^ "National Rail Trends 2002-2003 Quarter Four" (PDF). Strategic Rail Authority.
  22. ^ "National Rail Trends 2003-2004 Quarter Four" (PDF). Strategic Rail Authority.
  23. ^ "National Rail Trends 2004-2005 Quarter Four" (PDF). Strategic Rail Authority.
  24. ^ "National Rail Trends 2005-2006 Quarter Four" (PDF). Office of Rail Regulation.
  25. ^ "National Rail Trends 2006-2007 Quarter Four" (PDF). Office of Rail Regulation.
  26. ^ "National Rail Trends 2007-2008 Quarter Four" (PDF). Office of Rail Regulation.
  27. ^ "National Rail Trends 2008-2009 Quarter Four" (PDF). Office of Rail Regulation.
  28. ^ "National Rail Trends 2009-2010 Quarter Four" (PDF). Office of Rail Regulation.
  29. ^ "National Rail Trends 2010-2011 Quarter Four" (PDF). Office of Rail Regulation.
  30. ^ "National Rail Trends Chapter 2" (PDF). Office of Rail Regulation.
  31. ^ Thornton, Philip (17 February 1999). "The Player: Chris Green, Chief Executive of Virgin Rail: Right man to tackle 'mission impossible'". The Independent. London. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
  32. ^ Balmforth, John (2007). Virgin Trains: a decade of progress. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-3224-8.
  33. ^ "Virgin Trains goes Atomic" (Press release). Virgin Trains. 28 February 2006.
  34. ^ "Train crashes in Lake District". BBC News Online. 23 February 2007. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
  35. ^ "Rail crash report blames points". BBC News Online. 26 February 2007.
  36. ^ From Dream to Reality The Locomotive & Carriage Institutiion 8 November 2002
  37. ^ Rail Magazine Issue 516 22 June 2005 Page 6
  38. ^ http://www.aclocogroup.co.uk/history87.php Class 87 - History] The AC Locomotive Group
  39. ^ Rail Magazine Issue 575 26 September 2007 Page 16
  40. ^ Rail Magazine Issue 600 10 September 2008 Page 70
  41. ^ Super Voyager fleet refreshed - early Virgin Trains Press Release 13 February 2009
  42. ^ Virgin to eliminate four-car Super Voyagers Rail-News 16 November 2010
  43. ^ Rail Magazine Issue 433 17 April 2002 Page 17
  44. ^ Rail Magazine Issue 468 20 August 2003 Page 62
  45. ^ 57 Locomotive leased to Network Rail Porterbrook Leasing News 10 October 2011
  46. ^ Porterbrook has reached an agreement with Direct Rail Services for the lease of three Class 57 locomotives Porterbrook Leasing News 4 April 2012
  47. ^ Rail Magazine Issue 584 30 January 2008 Page 14
  48. ^ Virgin Rail Group welcomes decision on longer Pendolino trains Virgin Trains Press Release 31 July 2008
  49. ^ Rail Magazine Issue 591 7 May 2008 Page 64
  50. ^ Charter train potential for Virgin Trains 'new-look' loco-hauled trainset Virgin Trains Press Release 1 July 2009
  51. ^ "Please note: Virgin Trains onboard entertainment system no longer functions." Headphones, Virgin Trains.
  52. ^ http://www.northernrailways.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2921&start=0
  53. ^ "Virgin Trains customers get on-board WiFi between Birmingham and Scotland" (Press release). Virgin Trains. 5 November 2009.
  54. ^ "Virgin Trains customers get on-board WiFi from North Wales and Chester" (Press release). Virgin Trains. 5 November 2009.
  55. ^ "Wi-Fi on Virgin Trains". Virgin Trains. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  56. ^ "Virgin to eliminate four-car Super Voyagers". Rail News. London. 16 November 2010.
  57. ^ a b "Charter train potential for Virgin Trains' 'new-look' loco-hauled trainset" (Press release). Virgin Trains. 1 July 2009.
  58. ^ Wright, Robert (20 May 2009). "Branson urges £1bn rail spend". Financial Times. London. Retrieved 25 May 2009.
  59. ^ Ford, Roger (2010). "No extension for Virgin". Modern Railways. p. 7. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  60. ^ Offical Journal of the European Union Notice OJEU 11 January 2011
  61. ^ Shortlisted Bidders for Greater Anglia and InterCity West Coast Franchises Department for Transport Press Release 24 March 2011
  62. ^ Transport minister Philip Hammond delays Virgin Trains' west coast sale The Guardian 15 May 2011
  63. ^ West Coasr passengers in line for 28,000 extra seats as franchise extension signed Department for Transport Press Release 27 October 2011
  64. ^ InterCity West Coast franchise Department for Transport Press Release 20 January 2012
  65. ^ New operator for West Coast passengers Department for Transport Press Release 15 August 2012
  66. ^ West Coast Main Line franchise competition cancelled Department for Transport Press Release 3 October 2012
  67. ^ Virgin to run West Coast route 'for at least nine months' BBC News 15 October 2012
  68. ^ Department for Transport to negotiate with Virgin on temporary operation of West Coast rail services Department for Transport Press Release 15 October 2012
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Virgin West Coast.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Virgin Trains.


Preceded by Operator of InterCity West Coast franchise
1997 — present 		Succeeded by
TBA
Preceded by Train Operator of the Year
2007 		Succeeded by

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