West Coast history

Virgin took over West Coast services in 1997 with partner Stagecoach, as British Rail was privatised. It promised great improvements, although Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson named a Class 90 locomotive Mission Impossible as a comment on the scale of the task.

Virgin ordered tilting trains for the line, 140mph Class 390 electric multiple units (EMUs) and 125mph Class 221 diesel-electric multiple units (DEMUs).

Meanwhile, Railtrack began upgrading the line ( RAIL 839, 840), and quickly ran into trouble which forced it to ditch 140mph plans. Government had to compensate Virgin and Stagecoach.

By 2008, the upgrade was complete and new, faster timetables started making more of the tilting trains that had come into service from 2003.

On February 23 2008, one of them (390033) derailed at speed on faulty points at Lambrigg in Cumbria, killing one passenger.

In 2012, the Department for Transport awarded a 15-year franchise to FirstGroup to run West Coast services in place of Virgin and Stagecoach. This award collapsed when the pair mounted a legal challenge against the DfT, which was forced to reverse its decision. Virgin and Stagecoach have been running the franchise ever since.

DfT revealed in 2016 that it wanted to find a new West Coast operator before revising its plans to include initial operations on High Speed 2, which it plans to open in 2026. It revealed the bidding shortlist last summer.