Virgin's rail involvement after their franchises end

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Are we starting to see a pattern for the company / brand?

Already looked at their split ticket engine ... now an open access proposal for London <-> Liverpool.

https://buyingbusinesstravel.com/news/virgin-trains-plans-rival-liverpool-london-service/

Others too are looking to add more open access - e.g.London <-> Edinburgh.   Can we expect to see the franchises or a new equivalent of them competing on cash cow routes with open access providers?   In a more fluid market, can we expect to be seeing even more companies coming and going, and what are the implications for the services that are necessary to the economy on this flexibility of operation .. and flexibility of pulling out and / or going bust?

[stuving]

I imagine TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) (and soon-to-be-ex-TOCs in particular) are busy "waiting for Williams". RDG^▸ (Rail Delivery Group, or Reading station, depending on context)'s ideas are based round operators taking on smaller chunks of railway - single branch lines or competing services on main lines. While I can't recall any of Williams's thinking aloud in public as supporting that, the evidence papers contain that idea because it's there in other countries' models.

[grahame]

Are we starting to see a pattern for the company / brand?

Already looked at their split ticket engine ... now an open access proposal for London <-> Liverpool.

[snip]

From Transport Xtra
 

Virgin Trains has withdrawn its application to run open access services between Liverpool Lime Street and London Euston.  In a letter to the Office of Rail and Road, Neil Micklethwaite, Virgin’s business development director, says: “We consider that with the Williams Review [of rail] still not having been published, there remains considerable uncertainty that at this time, we had originally hoped would have been much clearer. Consequently, and after much consideration, we have decided to suspend our application. At the same time, we remain committed to this railway and would look to consider re-applying in the future, once we have seen the outcome and understand the impact of the Williams Review.” Virgin relinquished the West Coast franchise (operated as a joint venture with Stagecoach) last December

[grahame]

Came up "on this day", Virgin pulling out of further rail franchise bids.

It may "just" have been marketing, but those Virgin services I used and saw seemed to have a much more human - customer aware - attitude and approach than others.  When we flew regularly (and that's looking back now) we far preferred Virgin Atlantic over certain other products; not that there was much difference in cost or reliability, but when things went wrong the customer care we received outshone the others.

[TaplowGreen]

Came up "on this day", Virgin pulling out of further rail franchise bids.

It may "just" have been marketing, but those Virgin services I used and saw seemed to have a much more human - customer aware - attitude and approach than others.  When we flew regularly (and that's looking back now) we far preferred Virgin Atlantic over certain other products; not that there was much difference in cost or reliability, but when things went wrong the customer care we received outshone the others.

I think that demonstrates the difference of an organisation like Virgin where customer service was embedded culturally throughout all aspects of its business.

[IndustryInsider]

Came up "on this day", Virgin pulling out of further rail franchise bids.

It may "just" have been marketing, but those Virgin services I used and saw seemed to have a much more human - customer aware - attitude and approach than others.  When we flew regularly (and that's looking back now) we far preferred Virgin Atlantic over certain other products; not that there was much difference in cost or reliability, but when things went wrong the customer care we received outshone the others.

I think that demonstrates the difference of an organisation like Virgin where customer service was embedded culturally throughout all aspects of its business.

Though let's not forget that they generally received a panning for their Cross Country operation and ordered the fleet of 4/5 car Voyagers that has hamstrung the franchise ever since.  They were responsible for the fiasco that was 'Operation Princess' where punctuality dropped to little more than 50%, and were involved in plans for a Paddington to Birmingham via Swindon service that eventually came to nought.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Though let's not forget that they generally received a panning for their Cross Country operation and ordered the fleet of 4/5 car Voyagers that has hamstrung the franchise ever since.  They were responsible for the fiasco that was 'Operation Princess' where punctuality dropped to little more than 50%, and were involved in plans for a Paddington to Birmingham via Swindon service that eventually came to nought.

No need to hold back there, II^▸ (IndustryInsider - a respected member of this forum). 

CfN^▸ (Chris from Nailsea, an administrator on this forum). 

[IndustryInsider]

Always happy to try and ensure some balance, CfN^▸ (Chris from Nailsea, an administrator on this forum)!

[Bob_Blakey]

I wonder if the decision is primarily driven by Virgin Trains' wish to concentrate on the establishment of their much punted cross channel service. They were awarded access rights, by the ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road, formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about), to the Temple Mills facility last October and it seems to have all gone quiet since then. There are however a few news pieces saying the service will commence in 2029/30.