The Liverpool FC Forum > Ticket and Travel Info
Trains from London - any general tips, please?
Levitz:
You can also try booking to Crewe instead.
Alf:
Saw this in the Times Earlier.
Saturday may 18 2024
Virgin Trains to take on Avanti as Branson returns to west coast line
The Richard Branson-led rail company has applied for a licence to be an open-access operator on the London-to-Scotland line, in competition with the main operator
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Trains operated the InterCity west coast franchise from 1997 to 2019. It may be back
Oliver Gill
Saturday May 18 2024, 6.00pm, The Sunday Times
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group is to return to Britain’s railways by launching services on the west coast mainline — the route that the billionaire was booted off by ministers five years ago.
The reborn Virgin Trains, which will compete head-to-head with the under-fire operator Avanti, has applied to run ten-carriage trains between London Euston and Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow.
The company has applied for a licence to be a new “open access” operator under rules allowing rivals to run trains on lines alongside the main operator.
Virgin services from Euston will be hourly to Preston via Manchester Piccadilly, Birmingham New Street and Liverpool Lime Street under the application to the rail regulator. They will run every two hours to Glasgow.
ToneLa:
I hope it drives prices down.
MKB:
There aren't three paths an hour available (four every other hour), are there? The capacity issue on the WCML is the principal reason for HS2.
I'd be amazed if this actually happens. What we actually need is a reversal of John Major's fragmentation of the railways that has burdened the industry with astonishing inefficiencies and the taxpayer with far greater subsidising.
bradders1011:
Might be space available once it goes onto the Stoke-Macclesfield-Manchester leg if the plan is to travel to Glasgow via Piccadilly. Dogleg it out of the way of the busiest northern bit?
Presumably the Manchester-Preston bit would be via Bolton, which would be great for the town to have a direct London route.
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