2004-03-04 Rail Regulator publishes Grand Central’s response to the comments of other rail industry parties on the proposal for a new passenger service between Newcastle and Preston (Grand Central)

2004-02-13 Rail Regulator includes provisions for Grand Central's planned services in new Trans-Pennine track access contract (Grand Central)

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date 21 June 2004
source Grand Central
type Press release

The Board of Grand Central notes the announcement from the Office of the Rail Regulator (“ORR”), in which it has rejected the application by Grand Central for the Track Access Agreement (“TAA”) that would have enabled it to begin operating its proposed new Manchester – Newcastle passenger train service later this year.

Grand Central strongly believes that its representations to the ORR had successfully demonstrated the potential of its proposed service, using high quality inter-city rolling stock and adopting an innovative fares policy, to attract a significant number of new passengers to the railway network

Ian Yeowart, Managing Director of Grand Central, comments:

“We are pleased to note that the Rail Regulator has agreed with our view that the rail network has the capacity to accommodate Grand Central services without having a detrimental impact on the performance of other train operators.

“After four years' hard work by the Grand Central team, I believe that we had developed a proposal, which delivered all of the requirements sought by the Rail Regulator when assessing an application for a new passenger service.

"Our proposal would have created new, faster journey opportunities for passengers across the North of England with improved levels of comfort and service. The opportunity to bring a step change in the quality of cross-Pennine services at Wakefield, Brighouse and Rochdale has been missed.

“We remain of the view that the lower fares and improved standards of comfort offered by Grand Central can attract significant numbers of new passengers who do not currently use rail services.

“Grand Central will be studying the detailed findings issued by the Rail Regulator in the coming days, and remains committed to the introduction of new and improved cross-Pennine rail services.”

Railhub Archive ::: 2004-06-21 GCR-001