Varamis licence granted

THE Office of Rail & Road has granted Varamis Rail a licence for goods operations.

As reported in The RM in July, the Doncaster-based company’s initial focus will be a trial weekday logistics service between Mossend and Birmingham International.

It intends to use this to build custom before extending the service to London, and eventually adding trains on the East Coast Main Line.

Ultimately, it hopes to make the transition from Class 321 electric multiple units converted for carrying parcels, to purpose-built high-speed sets.