Virgin and SNCF bid to run HS2 and West Coast
VIRGIN Trains and French rail operator SNCF will jointly bid to run high-speed trains on the HS2 network.
The companies announced they will compete for the West Coast Partnership franchise, which will include services on the existing West Coast route from 2019 and initial HS2 trains between London and Birmingham from 2026.
If the bid is successful it would increase the proportion of Britain’s rail franchises run by overseas operators.
Half of the partnership would be owned by Stagecoach, with SNCF taking a shareholding of 30 per cent and Virgin 20 per cent.
FirstGroup and Italian firm Trenitalia ann-ounced in January that they will also jointly bid for the franchise.
Virgin Trains has operated long-distance services between London and Scotland on the West Coast line since 1997. It is owned by Virgin (51%) and Stagecoach (49%).
It has introduced a number of transformations on the railways such as tilting trains, automatic compensation for delays and a Netflix-style streaming entertainment system.