VT: TOUGH STEAM MARKET HAS CHANGED
Tyseley based operator seeks new opportunities as new players enter the arena.
Vintage Trains’ schedule will in future look different – as its in-house Train Operating Company finds there are opportunities on the modern railway, while the steam market “has changed”.
Naming Rail Operations Group, Great Western, West Midlands and others among its customers for things such as conducting or training, VT MD Cath Bellamy says her company is “working really hard to build other markets for which there’s a demand.”
While such things are “not directly about steam” she says, “they are about generating profit” – which supports the wider operation.
We are speaking in mid-July, shortly after VT cancelled its July 6 ‘Cotswold Explorer’ with Bahamas owing to low bookings. It has subsequently also effectively merged No. 45596’s July 13 Welsh Marches and July 20 Chester trips into one train.
VT is keen
to confirm its commitment to steam. Even so, Cath says: “It became apparent to us quite quickly that the market has changed.” “We’ve gone through our timetable, we’ve stripped out trains where we’re not confident we can run them profitably. There are slightly fewer of the ‘old favourites’, but we are experimenting, e.g. with evening diners.”
As things stand, the autumn programme includes Gloucester on August 24; trains to York on September 7 plus December 14 and 21; a Welsh Marches trip on September 14; and Chester on October 12. Also planned is a Bath train in December, and dining trips from Birmingham on September 5.
“We’re learning that we’re going to have to work harder on marketing, but that’s OK.
“I’m 100%, absolutely, confident that there’s a market out there for main line steam – and that it will grow – but also that it will change.”
The new TOC, Cath says, has “been learning with every train.”
“We will continue to operate a really good range of steam services – that’s what we’re here to do. But more repeat, shorter journeys may become a bigger part of what we do.”
By the time you read these words, the very first ‘Shakespeare Express’ to run under the aegis of VT’s new in-house operator will have been and gone. July 21 will be the first time Tyseley’s regular itinerary train to Stratford-upon-Avon, a ‘fixture’ since the 1990s, has run since 2017.
However, the five trains of this season is fewer than either the eight of two years ago, or the ten envisioned for this year in VT’s Business Plan of November 2017.
For while new players in the market are of course welcome, more players also mean more competition. And instead of running weekly, this year’s trains are punctuated by the Stratford offerings from West Coast, the company that used to operate the ‘Shakespeares’ on Tyseley’s behalf before the latter struck out with its own TOC.
But, says Cath: “I don’t really see it as competition. There’s not a ‘scrap’ going on – I hate to disappoint you! They’re offering the service they’re offering – we’re going to do something different.”
This year, that includes having an actor on board to ‘be’ William Shakespeare; and offering on-board food hampers.
“For people not used to travelling on steam, it’s as much about a performance as a journey,” she contends.
So, is there enough interest in steam trips to achieve the same profits in five trains that ten would have…? Or will the jam just be thinner for both organisations? To use the old cliché – time will tell.
Looking beyond the ‘Shakespeares’, VT is hoping to run its pre-Christmas ‘Polar Express’ trains again this year. Also, the new TOC expects imminently to have its Safety Certificate – a key piece of paperwork to be able to run – extended beyond the initial 12 months given by the Office of Rail and Road.
Cath reports that “we’ve been through the process… and we’ve been advised that they have no concerns. So we’re literally just waiting for confirmation.”
In a sense though, all the above is about the ‘shape’ of the business. So, what about the other key thing: how has VTL done financially? “At present we’re pretty much on forecast.” “The prospectus assumed we would start making a profit in the third year, and we still anticipate doing that.”
●● VT’s ‘Shakespeare Express’ trains are on July 21, August 4 and 18, and September 1 and 15, while West Coast’s ‘Merchant of Avon’ operation (ex-Burton) runs on July 28, August 25, September 8 and 22.
MORE REPEAT, SHORTER JOURNEYS MAY BECOME A BIGGER PART OF WHAT WE DO CATH BELLAMY