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Virgin scales back West Coast Main Line open access plan


01/04/2025 in News

Two Virgin Pendolinos pass each other on the West Coast Main Line near Rugby. ALAMY.

Virgin has dropped Glasgow from its list of proposed destinations, as it reduces the size of its West Coast Main Line (WCML) open access plans.




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Comments

  • AlanHogg - 01/04/2025 15:47

    Completely mad. WCML already full

  • Bean - 02/04/2025 15:43

    Could the fact that competing with Eurostar have an impact on the scaling back

  • Nbowie12 - 02/04/2025 16:48

    As someone who lives in Glasgow we need some competition for Avanti. Their fares are ridiculous as they're the only option for getting to London apart from air travel and the sleeper

  • Stu Anderson - 03/05/2025 19:04

    Again Virgin being themselves of "we're right everyone else is wrong"... if Network Rail said there are 9 paths you bet Virgin predicted there's 25 available... That's how they are, they are often far from reality, like "forcing" avanti to use Liverpool services which they said and it's in this story they want to bring them back or give them to Virgin... honestly it's like a mugging gone wrong... The problem is they are never rooted down to the ground in reality v expectation, they believe they are right all the time and everyone else is wrong and no one can tell them any different... sound familiar... Yeah that's right.. Post Office.. Their timetabling is geared around them and there services.. they do not take in to account other TOC's FOC's or Network Rail services (such as NMT).... They don't care they've shown that already by trying to hold the ORR and the DFT to ransome, They lost their franchise and now they want their trains back..... But if you look in the record books.. you'll find when they franchise holder and Ian Yeowart's company Alliance Rail wanted to run Blackpool North to euston services they were kicking a right fuss up about "how it's a travesty and we're the only operator on the network that should be allowed other than other franchised operators"... Suddenly because they got kicked off the network they want everything they once had like a spoilt child.. And if you don't give them everything they want guess what... They'll go to court and cry to a judge and put on the poor pitty me and how it's illegal and everything they do is legal but everyone is acting "illegally"... These are suppose to be adults and they run the railway like a bunch of spoilt little brats who got told "No"..... I want competition... But You cannot claim to hate open access like Virgin Trains did when they were franchised but now want everything open access gives... That is acting petulant, childish and spoilt. And guess what they'll cry so bad the judge will award them millions of TAXPAYERS money to pay them...... don't believe me look back into the books of history.. Virgin and Stagecoach are right for each other both petulant, both childish and both act in such a selfish ignorant and righteous way they will throw every dummy and toy out of their prams until they get what they want. I was pleased when Grand Union now First Stirling got the open access rights... i was even more overjoyed when Alliance sold to Grand Central and they were so close to operations... I was waiting to try the service out.. Competition is good... But we haven't looked at the human factor element which is... every train will be watched over by a signaller at a ROC... You add 25% more on to a tightly packed network you've trippled your workload of a signaller.. Incidents has happened of a signaller being overworked and simply forgetting a train was there and you've got a major disaster.... Have we not learnt from the blood on our hands from past deaths because of signaller error or signaller overworked.....Virgin don't seem to think so... They are happy to keep having blood on their hands... Because they will claim everyone else is at fault. You got to think.. Signallers are real human people, they suffer the stress and strain like any other human being, you add more on to a heavy workload you will have signallers off sick with stress leading to less signallers meaning less trains because Network Rail will have limit the workload for signaller that are still on duty... Otherwise you will have a long list of signaller staff off with stress related illnesses because of the amount of pressure. But Virgin don't care... they are just greedy money grabber who only care and believe they only answer to themselves..

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