Low-cost London rail link

Transport giant FirstGroup to take on budget flights

PLANS have been announced for a low-cost rail service between Edinburgh and London to compete with budget airlines.

Outgoing ScotRail operator, FirstGroup, has submitted a track access application to run an open access service on the East Coast Main Line from 2018.

The transport giant’s move comes less than two weeks after Virgin Trains took over the franchise with a promise to cut the journey time between the two capitals to four hours.

A spokesman for FirstGroup said it expected to match Virgin’s journey times, with services starting at four hours, but would offer “significantly lower” fares compared to both its rail and budget airline rivals.

The service is designed specifically to encourage travellers to switch from air to rail. Currently two thirds of journeys between the two capitals are made by plane.

If given the go-ahead by the Office for Rail Regulation, FirstGroup plan to run several trains a day between London King’s Cross to Edinburgh, with only three stops along the route – at Stevenage, Newcastle and Morpeth.

All three stations have airports nearby: Stevenage is close to London Luton and Stansted airports, and Morpeth and Newcastle are within easy travel distance of Newcastle Airport. FirstGroup hopes the new service would lure passengers from them.

There will be no first-class section, but passengers will have access to catering facilities and free internet.

Tim O’Toole, FirstGroup’s chief executive said: “These innovative plans will give customers travelling between London, the North East of England and Edinburgh an attractive alternative to flying. We hope to entice passengers away from budget airlines through our low fares and high-quality trains.

“Open access operators can really add value and create passenger loyalty by serving niche markets. Our current company First Hull Trains remains an exceptional example of how passengers can benefit from this type of operation. We have put our compelling case to the ORR and we are looking forward to hearing the outcome of our application.”

Journey time by air between Edinburgh and London can be as quick as an hour and 10 minutes to outlying airports such as Stansted. However, once the addition time for check-in, security clearance, and onward travel into London is factored in the total transit time would typically exceed two-and-ahalf hours.

In a statement, the group said: “Passengers would benefit from low fares, free Wi-Fi and onboard catering, all offered in one high-quality class of travel on brand-new, state-of-the-art rolling stock comparable to other trains being introduced on the route.”

Although the official target is domestic airlines, FirstGroup’s ambitions will also be potential competition for Virgin Trains East Coast, which took over the franchise on Sunday, March 1, as part of the Inter-City Railways (ICR) consortium.

Although the franchise uses the Virgin brand, it is actually 90 per cent owned by Sir Brain Souter’s Stagecoach Group.

FirstGroup was among the companies shortlisted to take over the East Coast franchise when it was controversially handed back to the private sector, but lost out to ICR.

It was also defeated in its bid to retain the ScotRail franchise, which will switch to Dutch operator Abellio from Wednesday, April 1. ScotRail will also lose the contract for the cross-border Caledonian Sleeper service from the end of the month.

In January, ICR was forced to deny claims by the RMT union that it planned to scrap the buffet car on the East Coast route.

There has also been disquiet among participants of the route’s loyalty club, after it emerged that passengers using the new franchise have to spend ten times as much to earn enough points for a free ticket.

A campaign group has described the new Nectar points-based scheme as poor value.

We hope to entice passengers away from budget airlines through our low fares and high-quality trains