Are there some new operators in the pipeline?
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has raised the prospect of more organisations entering the steam market. Currently, West Coast Railway Company and DB Schenker are the only two to operate steam tours nationwide. “We know that a number of companies are seeking to start running heritage trains, and expect to start to receive formal applications in the New Year,” said the ORR in December. It is suggested that these could include the grouping around locomotive owner Jeremy Hosking, and Tyseley-based Vintage Trains. Asked to comment by Steam Railway, VT chairman Michael Whitehouse said: “We have spoken to the ORR. The process for a licence is very clear, but the commercial arrangements are something else, and we do not have an answer to that one.” Peter Greenwood, who speaks for the Hosking grouping that includes the Royal Scot Locomotive and General Trust, and Locomotive Services Ltd, reported: “There’s truth in the supposition that we’ve looked at it. It’s not something we want to do, but on the basis of contingency we have talked to the ORR - but that’s as far as it’s got. “It would be totally misleading to say we’re looking to set up a TOC. We’ve just held exploratory talks, and even if we could, we’d never be able to do anything on the scale of WCRC.” Mr Greenwood said he that rather than forming a new TOC, partnering with an existing operator “would be preferable.” “It would be a lot easier - if you could find someone who wanted to do it, the reason being that they’re already up and running, just not doing steam. “Having said all that, our enduring desire is for West Coast to continue.”