InterCity East Coast

Virgin Trains East Coast route
Legend
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InterCity East Coast is a railway franchise for passenger trains on the East Coast Main Line in the United Kingdom from London King's Cross to Hull, Leeds, Bradford, Harrogate, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Aberdeen. It was formed during the privatisation of British Rail and transferred to the private sector in April 1996.

Initially operated by Great North Eastern Railway (GNER), it has since been operated by National Express East Coast and East Coast, and is now operated by Virgin Trains East Coast.

History

Great Northern Eastern Railway

GNER High Speed Train at King's Cross station in May 2007

East Coast InterCity 225 at Edinburgh Waverley station in June 2014

In April 1996, Sea Containers operating under the GNER brand, commenced a seven-year contract to operate the franchise.^[1]

In March 2000, the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority shortlisted Sea Containers and Virgin Rail Group to bid for the next franchise.^[2] The franchise was to be for 20 years and included proposals for new trains and replacements of sections of track.^[3][4] In January 2002, the Strategic Rail Authority scrapped the refranchising process and awarded a two-year extension to Sea Containers until April 2005.^[5][6]

In October 2004, the Strategic Rail Authority issued an Invitation to Tender for the next franchise to the four shortlisted bidders, Danish State Railways/EWS, FirstGroup, GNER and Virgin Rail Group.^[7] In March 2005, the franchise was awarded to GNER for seven years, with a three-year extension based on targets being met, starting on 1 May 2005.^[8] GNER committed to pay a £1.3 billion premium to the Department for Transport over ten years.^[9]

However due to the financial problems caused by it having overbid^[10] as well as financial difficulties encountered by the parent company,^[11] in December 2006 the government announced it was stripping the franchise from Sea Containers and would put it up for re-tender, with GNER running the franchise on fixed fee management contract in the interim.^[12]

National Express East Coast

In February 2007, the Department for Transport announced Arriva, First, National Express and Virgin Rail Group had been shortlisted to lodge bids for the franchise.^[13] In April 2007, it was announced that GNER had a 10% stake in the Virgin Rail Group bid.^[14] In August 2007 the franchise was awarded to National Express,^[15][16] and GNER's services transferred to National Express East Coast on 9 December 2007.

By 2009, NXEC was under increasing financial pressure due to rising fuel prices and the economic downturn. Instead of projected increases in revenue from the franchise, in the first half of 2009 NXEC ticket sales income decreased by 1%.^[17] In April 2009, National Express confirmed that it was still pursuing talks with the government over possible financial assistance with the franchise, either through a reduction in the premium due, or other assistance.^[18]

In July 2009, National Express announced it planned to default on the franchise, having failed to renegotiate the contractual terms of operation, and would not provide any further funding. This meant NXEC would run out of cash by the end of 2009.^[19] As a result, the Department for Transport announced it would re-nationalise the franchise.

East Coast

The franchise was re-nationalised on 14 November 2009 with Directly Operated Railways' subsidiary East Coast taking over, with the intention being that operations would return to a private franchisee by December 2013.^[20] In March 2013, the Secretary of State for Transport announced that this would be put back to February 2015.^[21]

Virgin Trains East Coast

In January 2014, FirstGroup, Keolis/Eurostar and Stagecoach/Virgin were announced as the shortlisted bidders for the new franchise.^[22][23] In November 2014, the franchise was awarded to Stagecoach/Virgin, who trading as Virgin Trains East Coast commenced operating the franchise on 1 March 2015.^[24][25][26]

Rolling stock

The franchise has always operated a fleet of High Speed Train and InterCity 225 trains. These were refurbished with new interiors in the mid-2000s. All are scheduled to be replaced by Class 800/801s.^[27]

References

External links

• Department for Transport InterCity East Coast website