First Group to operate new budget rail service

First Group will operate a new budget rail service between Edinburgh and London, after Rail Regulator give green light.

A new budget rail service between Edinburgh and London has been given the go ahead, and will be operated by First Group in a 10-year deal.

First Group will operate five trains a day each way via intermediate stations at Stevenage, Newcastle and Morpeth from 2021.

The budget train would consist of only one class, with an average ticket price of £25.

Tim O’Toole, Chief Executive of FirstGroup, said: “Our brand new trains will be cheaper than other rail services, greener than the plane, quicker than the coach and will get passengers from London to Edinburgh earlier than they can arrive now, and all for an average fare for less than £25.”

Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC) holds the franchise to run services on the line until at least March 2023.

Stagecoach, which operated Virgin Trains East Coast on the same rails, has warned that its revenue will be harmed. Perth-based Stagecoach Ground, which owns 90% of VTEC, criticised the decision to allow First Group to run competing services.

Martin Griffiths, Stagecoach Chief Executive said that the decision to open access competition with an established franchise was not in the interests of passengers or taxpayers.

First Group will launch access services between London, north-east England and Edinburgh from 2021, after the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) regulator granted approval.

Virgin Trains East Coast has also won permission to increase its services on the line and its branches between Edinburgh and London, which will be effective by May 2021 at the latest, although possibly as early as 2019. It will also boost services linking Bradford, Lincoln, Harrogate and Middlesbrough.

The regulator’s Director of Railway Markets and Economics, John Larkinson, said: “Our decision has been informed by extensive analysis, formal industry hearings and detailed engagement with all parties.

“We have carefully weighed up the potential passenger benefits and the financial impacts on existing operators and the government, as we are required to do by law.”

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