Comment: FirstGroup's plans for open access expansion

An order for new trains at Newton Aycliffe is welcome, but Philip Haigh asks where are the ambitions for new stock with low floors for accessibility.

“I made a promise to the workforce of the Newton Aycliffe factory and today, I’m delivering on that promise.”

So said Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on a visit to Hitachi’s factory on December 6. He was celebrating Hitachi winning a deal to build 14 five-car trains - great news for a factory that’s been facing an uncertain future, as its order book dwindled to nothing.

Yet Starmer’s claim stands little scrutiny when faced with the reality that this welcome order comes from a private open access operator ordering trains with funding from a private rolling stock company.

The only slight claim his government has is that it’s not wiped open access operators from the rail map while it extinguishes private operators working to government contracts (what we once called franchises).

The first operator heading for nationalisation under recently passed legislation is South Western Railway, announced by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander on December 4.

FirstGroup is the majority owner of SWR (Hong Kong’s MTR owns a minority share). That’s the same FirstGroup that placed the order with Hitachi for that new stock, financed by rolling stock company Angel Trains.

Nationalisation day for SWR will be May 25 2025, after 10,703 days of private sector operation. That’s a little over 29 years. To give some perspective, SWR’s Waterloo terminus in London saw 25 years of Southern Railway operations (one of the ‘Big Four’) from 1923, followed by 48 years of British Rail trains.

Labour’s wish to take contracted railway operators under direct government ownership is not new. It said as much in opposition, and it quickly pledged legislation when it won last summer’s General Election.

This gave FirstGroup plenty of time to consider its rail future, knowing that it would lose control of SWR as well as Great Western Railway (which was privatised on the same day back in 1996) and Avanti West Coast.

Open access is that future. First already had Hull Trains under its umbrella, and it launched Lumo in 2021 as a low-cost operator between London and Edinburgh. It now wants to extend these services to Glasgow Queen Street via Falkirk High.

In August, First bought Grand Union Trains’ Stirling subsidiary, which gave it the rights to run London Euston-Stirling services along the West Coast Main Line using open access rights.

First Rail Managing Director Steve Montgomery told me in early December that he has May 2026 as his planned start date for this operation. Staff recruiting should start next spring, he added.

What stock First will use remains unclear. Montgomery said the company was still working on this. But some of those 14 trains ordered from Hitachi in December will be working between London Paddington and Carmarthen under another recent open access acquisition by First.

It bought another Grand Union Trains subsidiary, which in December 2022 won ten-year rights from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to operate five return services a day calling at Bristol Parkway, Severn Tunnel Junction, Newport, Cardiff Central, Gowerton and Llanelli.

FirstGroup Chief Executive Graham Sutherland explained the company’s thinking: “Growing our open access rail portfolio is a key priority for FirstGroup.

“The introduction of our new Carmarthen to London Paddington service will significantly bolster our footprint. And should our other applications be successful, we will almost treble our current open access capacity over the next few years.”

Carmarthen’s new services will run under First’s Lumo brand from December 2027, with one class of passenger accommodation in 2+2 seating. They could be joined by Paignton from May 2028, which Montgomery told me was an underserved market which could generate new business from congested roads.

He has applied for access rights for five return trains (again under the Lumo brand) that will call at Bath Spa, Bristol Temple Meads, Taunton, Exeter St Davids and Torquay. First also wants a sixth path between Highbridge & Burnham and London.

In place of car trips taking up to five hours (according to First) from London to Paignton, Lumo’s rail option comes with 3hrs 20mins as an ambition.

First also suggests that tourist trips from Bath and Bristol have a lower share of rail travel. Most direct trains from London to Paignton today use the Berks and Hants route via Westbury, so call at neither Bristol nor Bath.

Unfortunately, none of these new services will offer level boarding, which would allow passengers in wheelchairs to board and alight without having to ask permission and have staff needing to deploy a ramp.

I asked Montgomery why this was. He explained that First was using an existing Hitachi design because it wanted an inter-available fleet for Lumo - some of the stock is destined to strengthen its Edinburgh services from five to ten cars by running double formations.

He said that Hitachi had no suitable low-floor design and couldn’t say when one would be ready, which meant that using an existing design was the quickest way to get stock.

It remains a fact that only Stadler has built low-floor trains for Britain. And none run above 100mph, while First needs 125mph.

Which leaves me to say that First has made a pragmatic but disappointing decision. The sooner manufacturers offer 125mph stock with lower floors that match Network Rail’s standard platform height, the better.

Perhaps Hitachi might think on this the next time its chairman, Toshiaki Higashihara, tells the Financial Times that Newton Aycliffe’s factory is under threat of closure - as he did in early December in attempts to lobby the Prime Minister to have him reinstate the northern half of High Speed 2.

I agree that HS2 would be better with its northern legs to Manchester and to Leeds. But in the meantime, there’s the conventional network to consider… and this needs trains with lower floors. Hitachi pioneered bi-mode trains with a major government order in the 2010s. Now is the time for similar work with low floors at 125mph.

Meanwhile, open access continues to divide opinion. Some see it as cherry-picking revenue that they believe should be the government’s. Others argue that it’s encouraged ridership while providing competition that keeps fares sharp.

I sit in the latter camp. I see Lumo trains at King’s Cross, and Grand Central’s services to Sunderland and Bradford. They look pretty busy. As do LNER’s.

They all tap heavily into the leisure market, which is recovering well from the pandemic. But Lumo’s half-a-dozen departures per day is never going to be a threat to LNER’s service that runs every half-hour. (Lumo passengers made 1.3 million journeys in 2023-24, while LNER’s made 24.2 million.) The same is likely for Cardiff or Bristol when those open access trains start.

Nevertheless, First looks set to become a big fish in this marginal pond. To Edinburgh, perhaps Glasgow, Stirling, Carmarthen, perhaps Paignton, it wants to add six daily return West Coast Main Line services through Manchester to Rochdale.

In common with most open access applications, First stresses the value of direct trains to London, with convenience the temptation to shift potential passengers from cars and coaches.

In this case, First’s services would run from London to Warrington Bank Quay on the WCML, before diverging at Winwick Junction to call at Newton-le-Willows and head east through Eccles and Manchester Victoria, before then climbing Miles Platting bank towards Rochdale.

Suggested rolling stock is new battery-electric trains, which First says will be built in Britain. That strongly suggests more Hitachi stock, so more pressure for the company to produce low floors compatible with NR’s standard platforms.

There’s no guarantee that ORR will grant rights for these services. It has been deluged with applications for West Coast Main Line open access, with requests for 44 daily paths from Euston.

Most (33) come from Virgin Trains as it seeks to re-create a smaller version of what it once had as a franchised operator.

But there’s also WSMR (Wrexham, Shropshire & Midlands Railway), backed by Alstom, which wants to run five daily trains to Wrexham.

In addition, government contract operator Avanti West Coast wants to reinstate trains withdrawn during the pandemic. So, there’s plenty of pressure on ORR.

But as the railway moves away from its near 30 years of private operation, it seems that open access is here to stay. Having celebrated the private sector’s success in Newton Aycliffe, Starmer can hardly withdraw support now.

Finally, have a very merry Christmas and New Year. Let’s see what 2025 brings!