Feature: Rail Travel
East Midlands Trains THE UK'S TOCs: WHO DOES WHAT
THE following train operating companies are franchised and controlled by the Department for Transport. Franchise expiry dates in brackets. • Arriva Trains Wales (December 2018): Most local services within Wales plus routes to Birmingham and Manchester.
• c2c (May 2013): Local services along Essex coast. • Chiltern Trains (December 2021): London Marylebone to Aylesbury and Birmingham.
• CrossCountry (April 2016): Operates most long- distance routes radiating from Birmingham which do not serve London.
• East Coast: London King’s Cross to the North East and Scotland. Currently run by Government agency Directly Operated Railways, with franchise to be re-let in 2012-13.
• East Midlands Trains (March 2015): London St Pancras to Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield, and many local services.
• First Capital Connect (March 2015): London to Cambridge, Peterborough and Bedford, plus Thameslink services to Brighton. Serves Luton Airport Parkway and Gatwick Airport.
• First Great Western (March 2016): Operates London to the West Country and South Wales, including local services.
• First Trans Pennine Express (January 2012): North West to North East services and Manchester to Scotland. Many routes serve Manchester Airport.
• London Midland (September 2015): London to Birmingham and Crewe (stopping services), plus Birmingham-Liverpool and local services across the West Midlands.
• Merseyrail (July 2028): Local services around the Liverpool area.
• National Express East Anglia (October 2011): Most routes in East Anglia including London Liverpool Street-Norwich and the Stansted Express.
• Northern (September 2013): Most local services in the North.
• ScotRail (November 2014): Most services within Scotland, plus Caledonian Sleepers from London.
• Southeastern (April 2014): Most services in Kent, including high-speed services to London St Pancras.
• Southern (July 2015): Most services from London Victoria, including Gatwick Express.
• South West Trains (February 2017): Operates most services from London Waterloo, including to Weymouth and Exeter.
• Virgin Trains (March 2012): London Euston to West Midlands, North West, North Wales and Glasgow, plus Birmingham-Glasgow/Edinburgh.
The following companies are private operators, receiving no subsidies: • First Hull Trains: London King’s Cross to Hull. • Grand Central: London King’s Cross to Sunderland and Bradford.
• Heathrow Express: London Paddington to Heathrow. • Wrexham and Shropshire, another non-franchised operator, closed down in January.
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London-Cologne, but direct trains will shave one hour off the current journey time and cut out changing trains in Brussels. Eurostar has expansion plans of its own, with
new trains due to be delivered in 2015 that can operate beyond Paris and Brussels, with Amsterdam and Geneva possible destinations. Meanwhile its existing fleet is being updated, with refurbished trains entering service from 2012 with wifi on board for the first time. Eurostar increased sales revenue in 2010 by
12 per cent to £760million, with passengers up by three per cent to 9.5million. Chief executive Nicolas Petrovic says more passengers are connecting with onward rail operators, adding, “The turnaround in the business market continued in the second half of the year. We are also starting to see a real shift in behaviour as customers are increasingly keen to explore new destinations by high-speed rail.” Meanwhile, GDSs are responding to a European Union initiative to create a pan- European reservations and ticketing system, but this is very complex and rail will not be fully integrated for many years. HRG’s Berry says, “A tremendous amount of UK rail business is now booked online, but we need to move to cross-border selling in a TMC environment with rail shown side-by-side with air and car rental, but that will take up to five years just to establish the framework.” Will Hasler, travel manager at PwC, says,
“Like London to Scotland, there will be some demand for London to Amsterdam and Cologne, but the take-up will not be as great as operators think, and not for day trips.”
28 I THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE
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