Uncertain economic conditions claim RCS’S Staycation Express
Services has announced that it will not be operating its Staycation Express services between Skipton, Settle, and Carlisle this summer – blaming the increase in the costs of living and economic uncertainty.
A statement was published on the company’s website and social media feeds on April 4 that read: “Unfortunately owing to extraordinary difficult trading conditions, we have had to take the difficult decision to suspend our Settle-carlisle tourist rail services in 2022.
“The current economic conditions have created the perfect storm of high costs, while at the same time all the indicators point to constrained demand as people tighten their belts during this unprecedented time of economic uncertainty.
“We would like to thank all our loyal passengers and hope to see you back on board in 2023!”
The Staycation Express was launched by RCS in 2020, using a rake of Locomotive Services (LSL) former Greater Anglia Mk.3 coaches hauled by LSL locomotives at each end, travelling between Appleby and Skipton. The trains were operated following the easing of restrictions after the first pandemic lockdown while foreign travel was not permitted.
For the 2021 season, RCS introduced a short-formed HST set consisting of Class 43 HST power cars 43058 and 43059, along with five Mk.3 trailer coaches, with services extended from Appleby through to Carlisle. The HST featured all first-class seating, using the popular leather seating previously fitted in First Great Western Mk.3 HST coaches.
The train is owned by Locomotive Intercity Ltd, a subsidiary company of LSL. It has not been used on any other non-rcs passenger services so far but has been used for driver training and route familiarisation.
The Rcs-liveried Class 43 power cars have been used on LSL’S Midland Pullman luxury dining HST on a couple of occasions, in place of the usual dedicated Midland Pullman power cars 43046 and 43055. Although RCS is a separate company to LSL, there are close links between the two organisations, with LSL director Jeremy Hosking also a director of RCS.
The 2021 Staycation Express season operated Saturdays to Thursdays between July 19 and early September, although Sunday services were withdrawn after a few weeks due to low demand.
Supply chain issues
The 2021 operation was also affected by supply chain problems, with RCS director Adrian Quine telling Railways Illustrated at the time that the company had sought to use local companies to provide the catering supplies for the train, but due to the unreliability of the deliveries, it was forced to put additional measures in place, and that this resulted in extra costs. The Staycation Express also operated during the October half-term school holiday in 2021, but no further public services have been operated by RCS or its HST since then. Although the company has stated that it hopes to resume services in 2023, it is unclear whether the HST will be retained for RCS use, or whether it will be utilised for other services operating within the LSL group of companies.
When Railways Illustrated approached Mr Quine to ask about the future of the HST and whether the company was planning to operate any other alternative services or day trips in place of the Staycation Express during 2022, he said: “It’s too early to say what, if any, other plans there might be for the RCS set at this stage.
“Given the lead times and need for marketing etc, it’s very unlikely that we’ll resurrect plans to run the RCS regular services this summer.”