CATH BELLAMY ONÉ

‘Regular’ trains: If you chanced across the general media coverage you may have been enticed by the idea of VTL offering ‘regular’ trains. That could be a massive story (especially since the ORR Statement of National Regulatory Provisions for VTL says it “shall not operate any passenger train for the purpose of providing regular scheduled passenger services, except to the extent that ORR may otherwise consent.”). But, as is so often the case, it’s a matter of how you interpret things… and we’re talking something perhaps more akin to the ‘Jacobite’ or ‘Fellsman’ than evening commuter trains.

Cath says that the ambition “doesn’t mean that we’re forming the 18.24 to Birmingham Moor Street, but it might mean that we have a weekly dining train… it’s about offering a frequent service – something that passengers can rely on.”

The passenger experience: VTL’s MD says she wants “to break down some of the exclusivity of steam. I want as many people as possible to experience what I think is a magnificent thing.”

She also says that in addition to offering modern standards (such as the much talked-about Central Door Locking, or Controlled Emissions Toilets) and robust timetables, a third test is “that everyone – whoever they are – says ‘wow, that was fantastic’, so they then tell other people.”

When the new operator starts with steam, she reports, “we want to do it properly and listen to and learn from our customers” – she also says the organisation has had “huge support from the City of Birmingham and local businesses.”

Why do it? “It matters to me to be part of something that puts something back,” says Cath. “It’s great,

I love it. I’ve never been your typical corporate girl.”

Despite having previously been MD of Chiltern Railways and open access operator Hull Trains (SR481), does the nature of the new organisation, with its motive power, make this a steep learning curve?

“I would say not, simply because I’m surrounded by people who are experts on steam.”