Could Virgin Trains come back?

Virgin Trains and its partner Stagecoach have been excluded from bidding to continue to run trains on the West Coast main line beyond 2020 because, says the DfT: “They submitted non-compliant bids for all current competitions which breached established rules and, in doing so, they are responsible for their own ...



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After three years in which they lost more than £200m, the DfT took control from Virgin Trains East Coast. That experience made the Virgin-Stagecoach combination wary of committing too much for the renewal of the West Coast franchise. In particular, they were not prepared to commit to uncertain pension liabilities.

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In August 2019, the DfT awarded the WCP franchise to the First Trenitalia consortium. On 8 December 2019, Avanti West Coast took over operations from the prior operating company Virgin Trains, which had run the franchise since 1997.

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On 10 July 2007, the Department for Transport awarded the new CrossCountry franchise to Arriva; accordingly, the services operated by Virgin CrossCountry were transferred over to the newly created operator, named CrossCountry, on 11 November 2007.

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Avanti West Coast reduced its timetable in August 2022 - citing unofficial strike action from its employees. In that month, cancellations were as high as 25%.

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In most cases, we would say Lumo will have the edge when you're travelling alone. If you're travelling last-minute, you might snap up a great deal on quieter trains. However, busier trains might have little or no difference – it might even be cheaper to pick LNER.

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