IT has been another month of significant change across the network, as the railways prove once again that what can sometimes seem like a permanent fixture never really is.
On the franchising front, Abellio’s East Midlands Railway has taken over from Stagecoach’s East Midlands Trains, promising new and upgraded units and a possible extension of the wires north of Corby, while Stagecoach and Virgin Trains are to lose the West Coast franchise to rivals First Group and Trenitalia from December.
This means that Stagecoach and Virgin – both seemingly permanent rail brands that have achieved much in their time – will no longer be involved in running any of our passenger services for the first time since the late 1990s.
The incoming West Coast Partnership has been tasked with integrating existing inter-city services out of Euston with those of the future HS2 line, but that side of the deal now looks in doubt with the high-speed project in review and a delay seemingly unavoidable.
