04/05/12 – Alliance Rail Press Release
ALLIANCE RAIL HOLDINGS RESTATES ITS POSITION ON NEW RAIL SERVICES FOR THE WEST COAST MAIN LINE
The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has recently announced that due to the continuing uncertainty over the longer term development of the West Coast Main Line (WCML) timetable, it is unable to make a decision at this time in respect of the Alliance application for a significant number of new trains between important northern towns and cities and London Euston.
The ORR has recently made it clear it wishes to encourage further competition, and has laid out a framework for achieving it. Alliance is fully supportive of that position.
Alliance Managing Director Ian Yeowart said: “The West Coast Main Line is a vitally important rail artery, and we will continue to work with Network Rail, the industry and the ORR to identify the capacity needed to deliver our new services in 2015 as planned. The suspension of our application gives the industry time to focus on creating a new timetable that provides the space for an increase in services that will serve significant new destinations and give more choice for passengers.
“The introduction of new open access services – those outside a franchise – has always taken a significant amount of time. The challenges faced in the five years it took to establish Grand Central services between London King’s Cross and Sunderland and Bradford are identical to those now being addressed by Alliance.
“Alliance has supplied a significant amount of supporting information to the ORR in respect of this application, and it is now down to the industry to work collaboratively to ensure the significant investment made in upgrading the WCML can benefit the maximum number of people.”
If you would like more information about this subject visit the website at: www.alliancerail.co.uk or to schedule an interview, please call:
Neil Yeowart at 01904 628904 or email ny@alliancerail.co.uk or:
Chris Brandon at 01904 628904 or email cb@alliancerail.co.uk
Notes to editors
Alliance is planning to run up to 60 trains a day on the WCML from the 2015 timetable. Trains will be operated by The Great North Western Railway Co. Ltd. (GNWR) and will be operated by brand new trains capable of the maximum line speed.
Trains are due to operate between:
• Leeds and Huddersfield to London Euston
• Bradford, Halifax and Rochdale to London Euston
• Blackpool to London Euston
• Barrow in Furness and the Cumbrian Coast to London Euston
Grand Central began operating in 2007 and runs four trains daily between London King’s Cross and Sunderland, and three trains daily between London King’s Cross and Halifax and Bradford. Grand Central has submitted an application to operate an additional service on each of these two routes from December 2012.
12/12/11 – Alliance Rail Press Release
ALLIANCE RAIL HOLDINGS ANNOUNCES AN UPDATE ON ITS WEST COAST MAIN LINE (WCML) SERVICE PROPOSAL
Alliance Rail Holdings (Alliance) has now submitted a revised application for its Great North Western Railway Company (GNWR) WCML services to the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR). This follows a significant period of industry consultation.
Alliance is seeking to introduce a ‘Network’ that:
- Operates over 60 trains every day
- Uses new rolling stock
- Will create almost 400 new jobs
- Will deliver over £3.5 billion of wider economic benefits to the areas it will serve
Network Rail and Alliance have identified a significant number of train paths that could be utilised by GNWR to introduce the new services, with over 50% of the paths sought validated to prove the current position on available capacity. Further paths continue to be evaluated and it is expected that the future proposed WCML timetable recast will reveal further opportunities.
Ian Yeowart, Managing Director of Alliance said – “We are grateful for the detailed work that our colleagues at Network Rail have undertaken in identifying significant capacity for these services. Network Rail and its planners have given an excellent response to a significant challenge and we look forward to working together in developing the plans further.”
The ORR will shortly make the application and supporting information available on its website (www.rail-reg.gov.uk) and will be undertaking a full appraisal of the proposal.
If you would like more information about this subject please visit the website at www.alliancerail.co.uk
26/10/11 – Alliance Rail Press Release
APPLICATION BY GNER TO INTRODUCE NEW DIRECT RAIL SERVICES BETWEEN LONDON KING’S CROSS AND SKIPTON, ILKLEY and BRADFORD
Alliance Rail Holdings (Alliance) has recently submitted an application to the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) seeking rights to allow GNER to operate a number of new train services between:
• London King’s Cross and Skipton – 4 trains per day in each direction
• London King’s Cross and Bradford – 2 trains per day in each direction
• London King’s Cross and Ilkley – 1 train per day in each direction
All services would be routed via the East Coast Main Line and call at Leeds, approaching Leeds from the East. This would also provide Garforth with a frequent daily direct service to London King’s Cross.
Services are planned to operate at two-hourly intervals between London Kings Cross and Leeds, with one service each day in each direction then serving Ilkley, two serving Bradford Forster Square and the other services going on to Skipton.
The ORR is currently undertaking industry consultation on the proposals, which seek to provide these important parts of West Yorkshire with the improved service it needs whilst also providing a limited amount of welcome competition for Leeds passengers.
If you would like more information about this subject visit the website at: www.alliancerail.co.uk or to schedule an interview, please call:
Neil Yeowart or Chris Brandon on 01904 628904 or email: info@alliancerail.co.uk
16/08/11 – Alliance Rail Press Release
ALLIANCE RAIL HOLDINGS ANNOUNCES FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF ITS WEST COAST MAIN LINE (WCML) SERVICE PROPOSAL
Alliance Rail Holdings (Alliance) has prepared a revised application for its proposed WCML services to be submitted to the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR). Alliance is seeking to introduce a ‘Network’ that:
- Operates over 60 trains every day
- Uses new rolling stock
- Will create almost 400 new jobs
- Will deliver over £3.5 billion of wider economic benefits to the areas it will serve
Industry consultation is currently being undertaken, and a copy of the outline Consultation Information Document is available using the following link:
WCML Track Access Rights Consultation Document
Network Rail and Alliance have been working very closely on the identification of a significant number of train paths that could be utilised to introduce the new services with around 50% of the paths agreed at this stage. This will see a supported (Section 18) application made to the ORR for the introduction of the West Yorkshire services (Bradford and Leeds to London Euston).
The recent McNulty Report – Realising the Potential of GB Rail – has highlighted many areas in which the industry can work better together, and in identifying this available capacity the parties have very much addressed the challenge of making better use of the exisiting capacity – “There needs to be less focus on capital and infrastructure solutions. Instead there needs to be a renewed focus on making better use of existing capacity, ensuring that a full range of solutions is considered at an early stage.” (Realising the Potential of GB Rail)
Further paths are still under evaluation by Network Rail and Alliance for the Blackpool and Cumbrian Coast services, and these, along with a number of weekend and further paths (for the West Yorkshire services) will be submitted under a Section 17 Application (unless agreed beforehand).
Ian Yeowart, Managing Director of Alliance said – “ Alliance has worked very hard and dilligently with colleagues at Network Rail in identifying capacity for these services. Network Rail and its planners have given an excellent response to this significant challenge and along with the outstanding input from our own people, this has been a true team effort.”
If you would like more information about this subject visit the website at: www.alliancerail.co.uk or to schedule an interview, please call:
Neil Yeowart at 01904 628904 or email ny@alliancerail.co.uk or:
Chris Brandon at 01904 628904 or email cb@alliancerail.co.uk
01/06/11 – IRJ interview with Ian Yeowart
To read the International Rail Journal interview and feature on Alliance please click here
