Virgin Trains: A Pictorial Tribute

By Fred Kerr

When British Railways (BR) was privatised in April 1994 a series of passenger franchises was created that included services on both the East Coast Main Line (ECML) and competing West Coast Main Line (WCML) routes. The WCML franchise was won by Virgin Trains and it quickly set about improving service by introducing a range of standard trainsets to replace the variety of traction fleets that it had inherited. It also became a constant critic of Government policy which promised much but offered little as the company found itself battling to establish the standards of service that it had promised within its franchise agreement but found other bodies within the industry reluctant to support. Fred Kerr lives at Southport hence his nearness to the WCML and his book seeks to illustrate the period of changes that Virgin Trains initiated from the immediate application of a startling livery to the introduction of new trainsets and the problems of establishing a new timetable to make the most of the new trainsets. The operation of the WCML franchise identified problems with both the nature and structure of the franchise system which were exemplified when the company finally managed to win the ECML franchise although it surrendered the latter when major problems were identified by the company. The company subsequently lost the WCML franchise and hence its involvement with train operations within the United Kingdom and Fred Kerr’s book seeks to explain the history of Virgin Trains involvement in train operations through a comprehensive collection of photographs showing the traction fleet that it inherited and the new fleets it introduced to service.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Aug 9, 2022
• ISBN: 9781526793324

Fred Kerr

Fred Kerr was born in Edinburgh in 1948 where he gained an interest in railway locomotives from both the LMSR and LNER companies whose services permeated the local network. When his parents moved to Corby in 1956 the local steelworks provided further interest from its mix of freight services, including seeing the last of the Beyer Garrets and the replacement Standard Class 9Fs whilst the industrial locomotives of the internal steelworks network offered further insight into the variety of steam locomotives. This was a time of change and during the 1960s the interest in locomotives included the new order of diesel and electric traction without reducing the interest in steam traction. While his interest in Diesel Traction led to his early involvement with the Diesel & Electric Group and its preservation activities during the 1970s, his move to Southport in 1982 restored his opportunities to return to his first love of viewing steam locomotives at work and this album records some of the locations that he chose to visit and the locomotives that he was able to photograph.Today his interest continues as a life member of the A4 Locomotive Society, Keighley & Worth Valley Railway and Ribble Steam Railway whilst he also support bodies concerned with preserving steam locomotives, diesel locomotives and infrastructure extensions.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

When British Railways (BR) was privatised in April 1994 under the Railways Act 1993, the Virgin Rail Group (VRG) was one of the many companies that submitted bids to operate the new franchises which had been created for the various groups of services that had previously been part of BR’s national network. The company had been incorporated by Virgin Group in 1997 to bid for the first tranche of franchises, and it was successful in gaining those for the Inter City Cross Country and Inter City West Coast services. The Inter City Cross Country franchise was awarded in November 1996 to run from January 1997 until March 2007 and began operating as Virgin Cross Country (VCC) from 5 January 1997 until November 2007 whilst the Inter City West Coast franchise was awarded in January 1997 to run from March 1997 until March 2012 and began operating as Virgin Trains (VT) from 9 March 1997.

The Virgin Group subsequently sold 49 per cent of its VRG shares to the Stagecoach Group in October 1998, resulting in the franchises becoming joint Virgin Rail Group/Stagecoach operations albeit with Virgin branding. Whilst both franchises were operated by separate companies, they shared some of the routes hence some of the rolling stock was common to both, but each franchise award included a requirement to purchase new trainsets. VCC ordered a fleet of diesel-powered trainsets whilst VT ordered a fleet of electric-powered tilting trainsets; both orders were introduced to service from 2001. In 2006 both franchises were restructured, including the transfer of the Birmingham New St-Glasgow/Edinburgh services to the Inter City West Coast franchise and VRG was asked for proposals to operate the revised franchises. Those for the Inter City West Coast franchise were accepted by the Department of Transport (DfT) but it rejected those for the Inter City Cross Country franchise hence put it out to open tender. VRG lost the Cross Country franchise to Arriva Trains which began operating it from 11 November 2007.

When the Inter City West Coast franchise came up for renewal in 2012 the VRG bid was unsuccessful and the franchise was awarded to First Group but it was appealed by VRG leading to the DfT cancelling the award on the grounds that ‘it had discovered significant technical flaws in the franchise process’. The DfT proposed a fresh competition but, in the meantime, awarded VT a series of management contracts until a revised franchise was awarded to a joint bid from First Group and the Italian national train operator Trenitalia that began on 8 December 2019.

VRG was involved with further franchise bids that were unsuccessful until November 2014, when its joint bid with Stagecoach Group for the Inter City East Coast franchise proved successful and, despite only being partner for ten per cent, the new franchise began operating as Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC) from 1 March 2015 for an eight-year period. VTEC quickly identified problems with the franchise and relinquished it on 23 June 2018, to leave the Inter City West Coast franchise as VRG’s only rail interest within the United Kingdom.

The development of a High Speed 2 line (HS2) to ease demand on the West Coast Main Line (WCML) had seen the DfT restructure the Inter City West Coast franchise to include HS2 to become a West Coast Partnership (WCP) franchise and sought tenders from interested parties.

VRG once more joined a consortium comprising Stagecoach Group and the French national train operator SNCF to bid for the franchise; the bid was led by Stagecoach Group but it was removed by the DfT when Stagecoach Group objected to some of the franchise terms. The WCP franchise was finally let to the First Group/Trenitalia bid to start from 8 December 2019 thus leaving VRG with no involvement in running UK rail services.

This album seeks to show the history of the Virgin Rail Group’s involvement with the UK’s privatised railway and show the changes made in the rolling stock fleets during its time operating the franchises they held whilst recording the changes imposed on the franchise agreements and the consequences for both franchisees and its services.

Fred Kerr

Southport

April 2022

SECTION 1: VIRGIN CROSS COUNTRY

The Inter City Cross Country franchise was awarded to VRG by the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising (OPRAF) in November 1996 and a new subsidiary company called Cross Country Trains Ltd, trading as Virgin Cross Country, was created to operate the services from 5 January 1997 until 10 November 2007. During the franchise period, Railtrack entered administration and was replaced by Network Rail whilst the franchise role of OPRAF was assumed by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) which had come into existence on 1 February 2001 under the aegis of the Transport Act 2000. The failure of Railtrack to provide the infrastructure to permit the Inter City West Coast franchise to operate 140mph services led the SRA to suspend both VRG franchises in favour of Management Contracts in July 2002. The SRA was later abolished by the Transport Act 2005 and its functions were transferred to the Department for Transport (DfT) on 1 December 2006.

VCC inherited a mixed fleet comprising Class 43 High Speed Trainsets (HST), Class 47 diesel locomotives, Class 86 electric locomotives and Class 158 Diesel Multiple Units. A requirement of the franchise was the replacement of these by more modern trainsets, hence orders were placed for seventy-eight diesel-electric multiple unit trainsets designated ‘Voyager’ namely thirty-four four-car trainsets classified Class 220 and forty five-car plus four four-car tilting trainsets classified Class 221; these were delivered between 2001 and 2003.

The company also inherited a diverse range of services stretching from Aberdeen and Glasgow