UK rail regulator rejects Virgin's bid for west coast mainline route
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has rebuffed three applications for the route, which connects London to Glasgow and serves major cities including Birmingham. Branson's Virgin, East Coast Trains (known as Lumo) and Shropshire & Midlands Railway Company Ltd, all lost their bids.
The regulator said new services could not be introduced due to insufficient space on the west coast mainline (WCML), which would 'likely detriment … train performance'.
The line is operated by Avanti West Coast – a joint venture between FirstGroup and Trenitalia – but is due to be one of the final major routes renationalised by the Labour government by October 2027 at the latest.
The government has also been attempting to increase competition on the railways by opening up access to rival operators.
Stephanie Tobyn, ORR's director of strategy, policy and reform, said: 'After thorough assessment of each application, it was clear that there was insufficient capacity to approve any of the services without a serious negative impact on the level of train performance that passengers experience on the west coast mainline.
While the ORR recognised there was an advantage to adding competition on the route, Tobyn said the southern end of the route needed space in the timetable to ensure proper running of trains.
'Additional services within the current timetable structure and planned capacity use would further weaken punctuality and reliability, not just at the south end of the WCML but elsewhere as well,' he said.
Virgin has been vying for a return to Britain's rails since being taken off the tracks by the Conservative government, which blocked the renewal of its west coast franchise in 2019. Virgin had previously operated services on the line since 1997.
Virgin had applied for three new services from London Euston, with contracts lasting 10 years until December 2035. They would include services to Greater Manchester and the north-west, Liverpool Lime Street and Birmingham New Street.
In May, Network Rail refused to support the three companies' applications to access the line, and Virgin appealed to the ORR. On Thursday, the ORR said it considered Virgin's application in its own right but arrived at the same conclusion for each application.
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Documents released alongside the notice showed the Department for Transport said the line already operated at 'close to capacity', particularly in and out of London Euston and was concerned about conflicts with the HS2 and Avanti West Coast services.
The DfT added that Virgin's application would have an 'unacceptable level of impact on taxpayers, given the greatly constrained overall position of rail finances, and that the loss of revenue on such a significant scale would materially impact the funds available' to the government to invest in the railway.
Virgin criticised ORR's decision, saying it was a 'blow for consumer choice and competition' and that the proposed service would have resulted in '5m additional seats every year from a trusted brand with a track-record for delivering award-winning, reliable train services for its customers.'
It also hit out at Labour's nationalisation plans. 'Anyone who remembers British Rail would rather forget it. Competition improves services, increases rail ridership, and drives better results for everyone, including the taxpayer,' it said.
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