ORR concluded there is insufficient capacity on the West Coast Main Line southern section for the introduction of any of the proposed services: from East Coast Trains Limited (Lumo NW); the Wrexham, Shropshire & Midlands Railway Company Limited (WSMR); and Virgin Management Limited (Virgin). To introduce any of these proposals would be detrimental to performance on the WCML and therefore all passengers and freight customers.
ORR determines all track access applications in accordance with its statutory duties. In the case of these three applications, lack of capacity and the anticipated impact on performance alone meant we could not approve them. As such, our duty to have regard to the funds available to the Secretary of State was not relevant to this decision.
ORR’s assessment of these applications included their operational viability, the benefits the services would generate, and the often-supportive views of passengers and local stakeholders. These factors did not alter our fundamental conclusion that the proposed services cannot be introduced due to insufficient space on the network and the likely detriment to train performance.
Stephanie Tobyn, ORR’s director of strategy, policy and reform, said:
