What happened to Virgin Trains East Coast?

In November 2017, the Transport Secretary Chris Grayling announced that the franchise would be terminated three years early in 2020, and in its place would be the East Coast Partnership (ECP), first of a new type of franchising arrangement, a long term regional public-private partnership where the private entity takes …

Will Virgin Trains be back?

Virgin Trains has waved goodbye to its passengers, making its last trip after 22 years and almost 500 million journeys. Its routes have now been taken over by Avanti West Coast, which has pledged to deliver a range of passenger enhancements, including new trains and 263 more weekly services by 2022.

Why are Virgin Trains no longer operating?

In April 2019 Stagecoach revealed that it had been disqualified from the franchises it was bidding for following a dispute with the DfT over pension liabilities. The disqualification occurred after the bidding deadline and as a result Virgin Trains would cease operations in March 2020.

Why did Virgin Trains East Coast fail?

OVEROPTIMISTIC revenue projections were to blame for the failure of Britain’s Intercity East Coast (ICEC) franchise, according to a report published on September 12 by the Transport Select Committee, which lays the blame for the default squarely with franchisees Stagecoach and Virgin and the Department for Transport ( …

Why did Virgin Trains lose?

Virgin and Stagecoach lost the East Coast Main Line franchise in 2018, which was nationalised after they ran into financial difficulties. Yesterday’s High Court ruling is the latest in a series of knocks for Branson, whose leisure and aviation empire has been turned upside down by the coronavirus crisis.

Who took over Virgin east coast?

After 22 years, Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Trains company has been replaced on the line by a new operator called Avanti.

Who runs Virgin Trains now?

Avanti
After 22 years, Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Trains company has been replaced on the line by a new operator called Avanti.

Why did Avanti replace virgin?

Avanti is the Italian word meaning “forward”. According to First Rail’s managing director Steve Montgomery, the brand was chosen to ”enshrine the type of forward-thinking operation we intend to run”. He said the new train operator will “generate national prosperity and pride”.

Who runs East Coast trains now?

The Department for Transport, or DfT runs LNER. They took over the franchise after Virgin Trains East Coast handed it back to the government. For us it’s a brilliant opportunity to bring rail travel up to speed and journey into the future.

Who owns Virgin Trains?

Virgin Rail Group
Stagecoach Group
Virgin Trains/Parent organizations

Who has taken over from Virgin Trains?

Avanti West Coast has taken over from Virgin Trains as the operator running the West Coast Main Line.

• Avanti West Coast has taken over from Virgin Trains as the operator running the West Coast Main Line.
• The new operator’s parent company is a partnership between Aberdeen-based firm FirstGroup and Italy’s Trenitalia.

Why did Virgin sell Avanti?

The end of the Virgin Trains franchise comes after Virgin Group and Stagecoach had their bid to continue running trains on the line disqualified by the Department for Transport (DfT) in April because they did not meet pension rules.

What’s new with Virgin Trains East Coast Tickets?

If you’ve been booking your tickets through virgintrains.co.uk you might be wondering what happens next. The good news is that there is a great alternative available – LNER. LNER replaced Virgin Trains East Coast on the East Coast mainline in June 2018, so this isn’t our first rodeo.

What is the name of the east coast train company?

Virgin Trains East Coast. Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC) (legal name East Coast Main Line Company Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom that operated the InterCity East Coast franchise on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland.

What is the off-peak service pattern for Virgin Trains?

Typical off-peak Monday-Friday service pattern (including other inter-city services) Virgin Trains East Coast took over all of the services operated by East Coast.

How many depots did Virgin Trains East Coast have?

Virgin Trains East Coast had four main depots: The public performance measure (PPM) shows the percentage of trains which arrive at their terminating station on time. It combines figures for punctuality and reliability into a single performance measure.