Memorandum by Virgin Trains (REN 37)
A. GENERAL
Virgin Trains
1. Virgin Trains is the brand name for Virgin
Rail Group Holdings Ltd (VRG). The company is jointly owned by
Virgin Management (51%) and Stagecoach Holdings (49%). Virgin
Trains operates two major inter-city train franchises—CrossCountry
Trains Ltd and West Coast Trains Ltd.
2. The North East is served by our CrossCountry
franchise and the North West by both our CrossCountry and West
Coast franchises. These are managed and marketed as a single Virgin
Trains brand through an executive team led by myself as Chief
Executive. Both franchises were awarded for a 15-year duration
in recognition of the scale of committed investment and this period
ends in 2012.
3. The two franchise bids committed Virgin
Trains to the total renewal of both train fleets at a cost of
£2 billion and this will in turn be funded by doubling the
volume of passenger travel. Railtrack is investing a further £0.2
billion in upgrading CrossCountry infrastructure and an estimated
£6 billion in West Coast.
4. CrossCountry is the only national train
operator in the UK. It is on the point of launching a new regional
intercity network linking Scotland, the North East and the North
West with the Midlands and the South without crossing London (map
Appendix 2). It is managed from its hub station at Birmingham
New Street and connects 115 towns and cities. It has a turnover
of £300 million and carries 15 million passengers a year.
CrossCountry does not manage any of the stations it serves (other
than on the West Coast) and it is dependent on partnerships with
fellow train companies such as GNER, Arriva, First North Western
and Railtrack Major Stations.
5. The West Coast franchise operates the
busiest mainline in the UK from London to the North West, Scotland,
the Midlands and North Wales. Virgin Trains won a 15-year franchise
in return for committing to renew the entire train fleet with
tilting trains. This involved a major contract with Railtrack
to upgrade the ageing infrastructure, but this contract is currently
being re-negotiated following major cost escalations in conjunction
with strategic review of the route's capacity, led by the SRA.
The outcome of the negotiations will not be known for several
months.
B. NORTH EAST
SERVICES (CROSSCOUNTRY)
CrossCountry Investment
6. £1.2 billion is currently being
invested in a major upgrade of the CrossCountry network which
will renew the entire train fleet and upgrade 150 track miles
(in addition to the West Coast). The 34 Voyager (non-tilt) trains
are now fully operational and over half of the 44 Super Voyagers
are also in traffic, with completion due this autumn. Bombardier
Transportation built the trains and have also won a £0.6
billion contract for their maintenance until 2012.
Service Frequency
7. The entire CrossCountry timetables is
to be re-written on 30 September to create the new regional network
in which train service frequencies will almost double overnight
and many journeys accelerated. The new CrossCountry timetable
is code-named Operation Princess and represents one of the biggest
national timetable changes in the last 30 years. The North East
will be one of the main beneficiaries of the upgrading with a
doubling of train frequencies throughout the region as follows:
| CrossCountry trains: daily to/from
| Now | 30 September 2002
|
| Berwick | 6
| 32 |
| Newcastle/Durham/Darlington | 27
| 64 |
| York | 28 |
64 |
| Leeds | 21
| 33 |
| Doncaster | 11
| 30 |
| Sheffield | 32
| 65 |
8. The new service will give the North East two core
CrossCountry links across the UK: (a) an hourly Edinburgh-York-Leeds-Birmingham-South
West service; and (b) an hourly Newcastle-York-Doncaster-Birmingham-South
Coast service. Trains will be routed alternately via Leeds and
Doncaster to provide each with an hourly CrossCountry service
and more connections into local train service networks (40% of
CrossCountry passengers use another train company). The new services
also create a new two-hourly direct service link between the North
East and South Wales.
Influence on North East economy
9. We recognise the contribution which good rail services
make to the economic prosperity of the regions by improving accessibility
and reducing road congestion. We are working closely with local
authorities, regional development agencies, businesses and chambers
of commerce to promote the benefits of the new train services
and maximise their usage. We shall be running a major public campaign
to launch the new Cross Country operation in September 2002 and
to keep the public well informed about the new travel opportunities
through both television and the regional media.
10. From June 2002, the North East will benefit from
a far wider range of destinations for Virgin Value fares. Newcastle,
for example, will now have Virgin Value fares to destinations
as far afield as Aberdeen, Swansea and Penzance with costs as
low as £20 in return for booking in advance.
Quality travel
11. The new Voyager trains cost £4 million each
and are being delivered by Bombardier Transportation from their
Wakefield factory. The Voyager is a diesel train with a sports
car performance which can cruise at 125 mph. They offer a vastly
improved travel experience with an on-board shop, a Club Class
area with at-seat service, electronic information systems and
audio-entertainment at every seat. The Voyager/Super Voyager fleets
are amongst the first in the UK to fully comply with the European
legislation for disabled access.
12. The SRA National Passenger Study was published on
6 June and demonstrated that customers' overall opinion of CrossCountry
journeys improved from 65% satisfaction in January 2001 to 78%
in January 2002. The plan is to drive this satisfaction to 90%
through the new trains, the doubling of frequencies, additional
staff and customer service training. All our ageing loco-hauled
trains will be withdrawn by 19 August and all but eight of the
High Speed Trains will be withdrawn by 30 September.
13. We shall be using Operation Princess to raise our
customer service standards across the CrossCountry network. An
additional 303 staff have been recruited across the network (78
in the North East and 69 in North West) to provide at-seat service
and to strengthen customer service staffing at interchange stations
such as Birmingham New Street. We have recently trialled provision
of a Virgin Trains customer service team member at York and plan
to expand our presence at other North East stations. We are also
introducing a new Customer Service desk within our operational
Control Room to provide back up for train managers and station
managers when things go wrong.
Safety and Performance
14. A Director of Safety reports directly to the Chief
Executive and the Board, and our safety performance is reviewed
annually by independent external Safety Auditors (ROARS). All
our new trains are being delivered with the new TPWS system operational
and are also designed to be compatible with the new ERTMS automatic
train protection system when this is installed. The new train
fleet will eliminate slam doors on both franchises with the exception
of eight High Speed Trains which will be retained with central
locking.
15. CrossCountry will always be the most difficult inter-city
route to operate, because it operates long routes with journeys
up to 10 hours which pick up the delays of all six Railtrack Zones.
It suffered especially badly from the post-Hatfield speed restrictions
and flooding. The Graph in Appendix 1 shows that Train performance
is now on a rising trend and we expect the new trains and the
regular interval timetable to continue this trend. We have just
strengthened our operational Control Room to recognise the doubling
of train services and we are starting to see the benefit of a
£40 million investment in CrossCountry's first ever dedicated
maintenance depots.
Network Capacity
16. We signed a contract with Railtrack in 2001 for a
£200 million investment in track upgrading which includes
some capacity improvements at south of Birmingham. The Railtrack
work is on schedule and the North East area has already benefited
from capacity improvements at Doncaster and Leeds in addition
to other work at Reading and Bristol. A big improvement will come
in 2003 when the route from Birmingham to York is upgraded from
90 mph to 125 mph to give an acceleration of almost 10 minutes.
Further investment is however needed if rail traffic is to expand
and priorities would include:
— additional tracks Darlington to Newcastle (eg
re-opening Leamside route); and
— Sheffield station area and the Chesterfield-Rotherham
corridor.
C. NORTH WEST
(WEST COAST
AND CROSS
COUNTRY)
Virgin role in North West
17. Virgin Trains provides an even more extensive service
in the North West, with roughly equal numbers of trains from its
West Coast and CrossCountry franchises. CrossCountry will also
be using its Super Voyager trains (five cars) in the North West
which are equipped to tilt round the many curves on the West Coast
mainline.
West Coast investment
18. In addition to CrossCountry, the North West will
benefit from the West Coast upgrade which includes over £7
billion investment for the region. This includes £0.6 billion
for 53 Pendolino trains (nine cars) and a further £0.6 billion
for their maintenance until 2012 by Alstorn. Railtrack is currently
reviewing its ability to deliver the infrastructure upgrade and
the outcome of the re-negotiations is likely to be a 125 mph railway
with new trains running in 2003 (non-tilt) with a full timetable
in 2004.
Service frequency
19. A rather ragged CrossCountry service pattern will
be replaced with a new hourly service to Carlisle/Scotland and
Birmingham/Reading. There will also be new two-hourly service
from Manchester to Scotland, from Blackpool to Birmingham and
from Liverpool to Birmingham. Operation princess will renew the
entire CrossCountry train fleet with Voyagers/Super Voyagers from
30 September 2002 in the North West, and will bring major timetable
benefits in both service frequency and journey times:
| CrossCountry trains: daily to/from |
Now | 30 September 2002
|
| Manchester-Birmingham | 38
| 50 |
| Warrington-Birmingham-South | 15
| 32 |
| Liverpool-Birmingham-South | 10
| 18 |
| Blackpool-Birmingham-South | 3
| 14 |
| Preston-Birmingham-South West | 22
| 48 |
| Birmingham-Scotland | 29
| 55 |
Influence on North West economy
20. The North West is at the centre of a massive rail
investment which will bring brand new trains on both franchises,
together with a near doubling in train service frequencies and
journey time accelerations of up to 25%. The major CrossCountry
benefits will be completed by September 2002 and the West Coast
by May 2004, The North West has been at a disadvantage for some
time now from an ageing rail network and congested motorways.
This will change as journey times from London are shrunk to a
little over two hours to the main North West cities with modern
tilting trains. We are working closely with Regional Development
Agencies, tourist authorities and the media to ensure the public
are aware of the future travel opportunities.
Quality travel
21. In addition to the new Voyager Trains (paragraph
11 above), the North West will also benefit from the imminent
delivery of the new fleet of 53 Pendolino tilting trains for the
West Coast. The first Pendolinos should replace the older trains
from this autumn (non-tilt) and the London-Manchester service
frequency will be increased to half-hourly all day in May 2003
together with a new two-hourly London-Holyhead service. The big
timetable upgrade should be completed by May 2004 when a totally
new timetable will be introduced based on 125 mph running and
full tilt operation.
22. The SRA National Passenger Study was published on
6 June and demonstrated that customers' overall opinion of West
Coast journeys improved from 65% satisfaction in January 2001
to 75% in January 2002. The plan is to drive this satisfaction
to 90% through the new trains, the doubling of frequencies, additional
staff and customer service training.
23. We have invested over £6 million in North West
stations so far, with the priority on reducing ticket queues (FastTrack
machines, Telesales, Internet) and improving customer security
at car parks and stations. Station developments range from the
flagship redevelopment of Manchester Piccadilly (Railtrack), to
significant refurbishments at Liverpool, Stoke-on-Trent, Preston,
Carlisle and Stockport (starts August). A further £90 million
of private funding is now being sought for the comprehensive upgrading
of all our stations to include major car park extensions, new
ticket shops, upgraded toilets, modern information systems and
lift access to all platforms.
Performance
24. We recognise that West Coast train performance deteriorated
badly in 2001 and we have been working hard to keep the trains
and infrastructure operational for the last 18 months of their
lives. The graph in Appendix 1 shows that continuous upward improvement
is now being achieved following the Hatfield situation. The new
train fleet will bring high levels of train reliability and the
opportunity to recover from failures.
25. Railtrack is now investing £3 million a day
in the West Coast upgrade and work is well advanced, with major
signalling completed at Birmingham, Euston, Willesden and North
Staffordshire. The quality of the newly completed infrastructure
is very high and is contributing to improvements in both punctuality
and ride quality. A downside of the high infrastructure investment
has been Railtrack's decision to close the four-track section
of the West Coast south of Rugby for 18 consecutive weekends this
autumn to facilitate the engineering work.
Network Capacity
26. Further investment is needed if rail traffic is to
expand and priorities would be:
— develop case for up to nine extra Pendolino trains;
— develop case for electrification of Blackpool-Preston-Manchester;
— develop case for electrification of Crewe-Kidsgrove
and Crewe-Chester; and
— develop case for increased line capacity (four-tracking
and grade-separation).
Chris Green
Chief Executive
10 June 2002
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