The market between London and Edinburgh is an odd one to put it bluntly, with competition by Rail, Air and Bus.
And I mean a LOT of competition.
Air Rail Coach EasyJet Virgin Trains East Coast Megabus British Airways Virgin Trains National Express FlyBe Caledonian sleeper Ryanair
It seems that FirstGroup have found a hole to exploit, with plans to introduce a single-class rail service between London King’s Cross to Edinburgh, via Stevenage, Newcastle and Morpeth.
London King’s Cross – Image, Economy Class and Beyond.
FirstGroup have submitted plans to the Office of Rail Regulation in an attempt to get track access rights to operate the services from 2018.
The company plans to offer free WiFi and “low fares” with new trains to operate the service.
The station choices are interesting too – with Stevenage station near to Luton and Stansted, whilst Morpeth station is close to Newcastle Airport.
It’s an interesting attempt at a land grab on the London to Edinburgh route with a low cost product to grab air passengers and place them on the railway.
Tim O’Toole, FirstGroup’s Chief Executive states:
These innovative plans will give customers travelling between London, the North East of England and Edinburgh an attractive alternative to flying. We hope to entice passengers away from budget airlines through our low fares and high-quality trains.
Open access operators can really add value and create passenger loyalty by serving niche markets. Our current company First Hull Trains remains an exceptional example of how passengers can benefit from this type of operation.
We have put our compelling case to the ORR and we are looking forward to hearing the outcome of our application.”
Low Cost Carrier style rail has had some interesting experiments – with Stagecoach offering tickets via MegaTrain (selling cheap tickets on empty service) in the UK.
Meanwhile in France, SNCF offer LCC style rail services with its Ouigo rail service from Marne-la-Vallée near Paris.
Is this the right step forward? It’s a bold step to introduce a one-on-one battle with Virgin Trains East Coast, directly competing on routes.
The bigger problems will be if there are enough “paths” for the trains services to operate (as the East Coast Main Line has bottlenecks along the route), and if the UK Office of Rail Regulation thinks FirstGroup’s plans are viable or not.
None the less, it’s an interesting plan.
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