Disappointment at ORR rejection of Grand Central application for additional passenger services

Train operator Grand Central has expressed its disappointment at the decision of the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to reject its recent application to run additional services between Doncaster, Wakefield and London, and for some of its trains to call at Peterborough – a move which would have opened up new journey opportunities for customers.

Managing Director Richard McClean has written to the ORR to express the train operating company’s disappointment at the decision, which would have allowed Grand Central to fill in gaps in the services it provides to its passengers.

If the application had been successful, it would also have provided new direct journey options between Peterborough and the North East / Yorkshire, offering passengers additional choice and lower fares.

As part of its long term growth strategy, Grand Central requested additional track access rights to allow it to operate:

• a very early morning service from Wakefield and Doncaster to London Kings Cross, arriving in the capital before 07.30;
• a late evening service leaving London at 21.50 back to Doncaster and Wakefield;
• and,the introduction of calls at Peterborough on these new services, and on two of its services on the North East route

If Grand Central’s application had been approved by the ORR, the move would have brought its West Riding route in line with its North East operations, with five trains per day in each direction.

Customers using Grand Central’s lower fares travelling from Doncaster and Wakefield would have been able to enjoy five hours longer in London, as well as benefiting from a 25% increase in the number of seats provided by Grand Central on this route.
Grand Central, an open access train operator, hoped that the addition of train stops at Peterborough would also open up new journey opportunities to and from the city by connecting it with destinations in Yorkshire and the North East not served by the East Coast franchised operator VTEC.

However, the ORR rejected Grand Central’s application on the grounds that it did not reach the required ratio on its ‘Not Primarily Abstractive’ test, which assesses the balance of new revenue generated by the services against existing revenue transferred from other operators.

Richard McClean, MD of Grand Central, said: “As part of our application, we presented a clear business case which reflected the high level of market growth experienced when we previously expanded our operations, meaning the application reached the required ratio. However, the ORR felt this did not meet their required criteria on this occasion.

“We are extremely disappointed that the ORR has rejected our application to expand our operations and grow existing markets, which would have allowed us ultimately to boost our services for the benefit of existing and new passengers.

“The proposed additional services are an important part of Grand Central’s longer term strategic development, building on the strong growth of the West Riding route.

“At Grand Central, we hold a firm belief that incremental growth of our services is essential to encouraging competition in the rail market and to connecting communities and businesses.

“By offering low fares and benefits highly valued by customers including free WiFi and plenty of legroom, Grand Central aims to make travelling by train an attractive and affordable option.

“We are committed to this vision and we intend to present further growth proposals to ORR in the near future.”

To find out more about Grand Central, please visit www.grandcentralrail.com or follow the railway company on Twitter @GC_Rail, Facebook or LinkedIn.
 

Notes to editors:

Grand Central Railway Company Limited, part of the Arriva Group, is an established train operator which provides direct rail connections from towns and cities in Yorkshire and the North East England with London.

Established in 2007, Grand Central is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2017. Customer satisfaction levels are consistently high and the rail company has just been named Britain’s best value rail operator for the 5th year in a row.

Grand Central operates West Riding Services between Bradford Interchange, Low Moor, Halifax, Brighouse, Mirfield, Wakefield Kirkgate, Pontefract Monkhill, Doncaster and London King’s Cross. The rail operator also operates North East services between Sunderland, Hartlepool, Eaglescliffe, Northallerton, Thirsk, York and London King’s Cross.

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