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Virgin Rail Group

October 15, 2023

Virgin Rail Group[1] was formed by the Virgin Group to bid for rail franchises in the United Kingdom during the privatisation of British Rail in the late 1990s.

Virgin Rail Group
TypeLimited company
IndustryTransport
Founded1997
FounderRichard Branson
HeadquartersLondon, England
Area served
United Kingdom
OwnerVirgin Group (51%)
Stagecoach (49%)
SubsidiariesVirgin CrossCountry (1997–2007)
Virgin Trains West Coast (1997–2019)
Websitewww.virgintrains.co.uk
Virgin Trains West Coast Pendolino at Birmingham New Street in September 2003

United Kingdom operations Edit

1990s Edit

Amid the privatisation of British Rail during the mid 1990s, Virgin submitted multiple bids to operate several different train franchises, including Gatwick Express, InterCity CrossCountry and InterCity West Coast.[2] It was successful in winning the latter two, leading to Virgin CrossCountry and Virgin West Coast commencing operations in January and March 1997 respectively.[3][4] Both franchises were scheduled to run for 15 years.

One of Virgin's franchise commitments was to replace the British Rail-era locomotives and rolling stock inherited by Virgin West Coast with brand new tilting trains. Following negotiations with several manufacturers, Virgin placed an order with Alstom/Fiat Ferroviaria to produce the envisioned tilting train, which was known by the name Pendolino and was later designated under TOPS as the Class 390.[5] It was expected that the Pendolinos would run at service speeds of up to 140 mph (225 km/h) and that the whole fleet would be delivered by May 2002.[6] The service introduction of the Pendolino was repeatedly delayed, a fact which has been attributed to the poor project management and the collapse of infrastructure owner Railtrack.[7]

In order for tilting trains to be operated, Railtrack had committed itself to upgrading the West Coast Main Line as to permit 140 mph operation by 2005. However, the modernisation of the line suffered from spiralling costs, rising from an estimated £2 billion to roughly £10 billion,[8] while the programme had failures that were technical as well as managerial, such as the moving block signalling apparatus being immature for such a busy mixed-traffic mainline.[9][10] Railtrack would ultimately collapse while its successor, Network Rail, would also be unable to fully deliver the promised upgrade, heavily impacting Virgin West Coast's operations.[11][12] The upgrade programme would be cut back, as a result, the top speed was reduced to 125 mph.[13] The Pendalino fleet was introduced into passenger services from Birmingham International to Manchester Piccadilly on 23 July 200, coinciding with the opening of the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.[14]

In October 1998, Virgin Group sold 49% of the shares in Virgin Rail Group to the British transport company Stagecoach.[15]

2000s Edit

In March 2000, Virgin was shortlisted to bid for the InterCity East Coast franchise.[16][17] During January 2002, the Strategic Rail Authority scrapped the refranchising process and awarded a two-year extension to GNER.[18]

In the wake of the collapse of Railtrack and the inability of Network Rail to deliver on the 140 mph (225 km/h) West Coast Main Line upgrade, both the Virgin CrossCountry and Virgin West Coast franchises were suspended in favour of management contracts in July 2002.[19][20][21] While the terms of the West Coast franchise were renegotiated, agreement could not be reached on CrossCountry and it was retendered in 2007. While Virgin Trains did bid to retain the franchise, it was awarded to Arriva, thus the services operated by Virgin CrossCountry were transferred to CrossCountry on 11 November 2007.[22][23]

During 2004, Virgin was again shortlisted to bid for the InterCity East Coast franchise, but was ultimately unsuccessful; the franchise was instead won by Sea Containers, parent company of then train operator Great North Eastern Railway.[24] After Sea Containers was stripped of the East Coast franchise due to poor financial management,[25] Virgin was again shortlisted for the InterCity East Coast franchise in February 2007, submitting a bid had a 10% shareholding by the incumbent, Sea Containers. However, this bid was not successful, as the franchise was won by National Express.[26][27]

During July 2008, Virgin was awarded a contract by the DfT to manage the introduction of 106 extra Class 390 Pendolino carriages.[28][29] Virgin Trains made further enhancements to the Pendolino fleet,[30] perhaps most noticeable change was the 21 nine-car units each had one first class carriage converted to standard class.[31][32][33]

2010s Edit

Virgin was shortlisted for the InterCity West Coast franchise by the DfT in March 2011.[34] In August 2012, the Department awarded FirstGroup the new franchise.[35] Virgin felt that the methodology used to award the franchise was flawed, and Richard Branson said it was unlikely Virgin would bid for any future franchises.[36][37] When the DfT did not respond to Virgin's concerns, it launched proceedings for a judicial review.[38] While preparing its case for the judicial review, the government discovered significant technical flaws in the way the franchise process had been conducted, and cancelled the competition, vindicating Virgin's protests.[39]

In December 2012, Virgin was awarded a 23-month management contract to run the West Coast franchise until November 2014;[40] the contract was extended in stages until March 2020.[41]

During May 2013, there was a controversy regarding new uniforms, with claims that the blouses were too revealing and potentially exposed dark bras to the public. Virgin Rail Group responded to this by offering a voucher worth £20 to allow employees to purchase a top to wear underneath the new blouses.[42]

In March 2015, Virgin Trains East Coast commenced operating the InterCity East Coast franchise; the company was a joint venture between Stagecoach (90%) and Virgin Group (10%).[43][44] Due to the line performing below VTEC's expectations, it was announced in May 2018 that the contract would be terminated early by the government.[45][46] VTEC ceased operating on 23 June 2018 and operations passed to a government-owned operator, London North Eastern Railway.[47][48]

In November 2016, the government announced that the InterCity West Coast franchise would be replaced by a new franchise named the West Coast Partnership, which included operating High Speed 2 (HS2). Services are planned to begin on the first phase of HS2 in 2026.[49] The DfT requires that the new operator have experience in operating high speed trains (250 mph) and infrastructure.[50][51] To satisfy this requirement, Stagecoach (50%) and Virgin (20%) bid in a joint venture with SNCF (30%).[52][53] In April 2019, Stagecoach revealed that it had been disqualified from the franchises it was bidding for, including the West Coast Partnership.[54][55] One month later, the company announced that it would legally challenge the disqualification.[56] However, on 17 June 2020, the High Court ruled against the company and that the decision had been lawful.[57][58] Accordingly, Virgin Trains ceased in December 2019.

In June 2019, Virgin lodged an application to the Office of Rail & Road for an open access service from London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street calling at Nuneaton, Tamworth, Lichfield Trent Valley, Liverpool South Parkway and Liverpool Lime Street to rival the West Coast Partnership franchisee from May 2021.[59] The application was later withdrawn.

Non United Kingdom rail operations Edit

In 1998, Virgin Rail, as part of the Capital Rail consortium, was shortlisted for an Australian high-speed rail service from Sydney to Canberra.[60]

During November 2018, it was announced that Virgin Group would become a minority investor in the American company Brightline and would provide rights to rebrand the service as Virgin Trains USA.[61][62] However, in August 2020, managers at the company alleged that Virgin had not provided the agreed investment money and thus it would be ending its branding deal, returning to the previous Brightline brand.[63][64][65] In March 2021, Virgin sued Brightline for $251.3 million because of the broken contract.[66][67]

In popular culture Edit

Virgin's role in the privatisation of British Rail was lampooned in Thomas the Privatised Tank Engine, a 1994 parody children's book published by Private Eye magazine. A send-up of The Railway Series by the Reverend W. Awdry, it mentions characters such as "Gordon the Virgin Engine" (Gordon the Big Engine) and "The Bearded Controller" (The Fat Controller, reimagined as Richard Branson).

References Edit

  1. ^ Companies House extract company no 03282548 8 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine Virgin Rail Group Limited
  2. ^ "National Express wins Gatwick rail franchise" 25 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine The Independent 4 April 1996
  3. ^ "Virgin to run CrossCountry trains" 7 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine The Independent 14 November 1996
  4. ^ Harrison, Michael (31 January 1997). . The Independent. Archived from the original on 20 August 2017. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  5. ^ "Full tilt: Virgin's 140mph Pendolino trains". Mathieson, SA. March 2002. from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
  6. ^ Knight, Stephen (2 December 1998). "Virgin's first West Coast tilt train 'on test by July 2000'" (PDF). Rail. No. 345. EMAP Apex Publications. ISSN 0953-4563. OCLC 49953699. (PDF) from the original on 20 May 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  7. ^ Hughes, Murray (1 February 2003). "Pendolino to attack the London - Manchester market". Railway Gazette International. Sutton: DVV Media Group. ISSN 0373-5346. from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  8. ^ "Repair costs spiral to £5bn". BBC News. 15 December 1999. from the original on 10 November 2013.
  9. ^ Meek, James (1 April 2004). "The main players in the £10bn rail fiasco". The Guardian.
  10. ^ "The Modernisation of the West Coast Main Line". National Audit Office. from the original on 21 July 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  11. ^ Christian, Wolmar (16 July 2005). "Forget Byers: the scandal was in the original sell-off: Railtrack was heading for disaster long before the Hatfield crash". The Guardian.
  12. ^ "Supplementary memorandum by the Strategic Rail Authority". House of Commons. 22 July 2002.
  13. ^ "West Coast railway upgrade under threat". The Telegraph. 24 July 2003. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  14. ^ "Virgin Pendolino starts". Railway Gazette International. Sutton: DVV Media Group. 1 September 2002. ISSN 0373-5346. from the original on 28 March 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  15. ^ . BBC News. 7 October 1998. Archived from the original on 3 March 2013.
  16. ^ . Shadow Strategic Rail Authority. 14 March 2000. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013.
  17. ^ . BBC News. 6 March 2000. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013.
  18. ^ . BBC News. 16 January 2002. Archived from the original on 5 September 2013.
  19. ^ . House of Commons Select Committee on Transport. Archived from the original on 7 September 2017.
  20. ^ "CrossCountry could be carved up as SRA rejects Virgin bid". Rail Magazine. No. 494. 18 August 2004. p. 6.
  21. ^ "CrossCountry network could be axed, fears Virgin". The Railway Magazine. No. 1242. October 2004. p. 4.
  22. ^ . Virgin Trains. 31 October 2006. Archived from the original on 4 September 2011.
  23. ^ "Department for Transport announces winner of New Cross Country franchise". Department for Transport. 10 July 2007.
  24. ^ . Railway Gazette International. 1 May 2005. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013.
  25. ^ "From poisoned chalice to Holy Grail?". Rail. Bauer Media Group. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  26. ^ . BBC News. 20 February 2007. Archived from the original on 22 February 2007.
  27. ^ (Press release). Department for Transport. 14 August 2007. Archived from the original on 19 December 2007. Retrieved 14 August 2007.
  28. ^ "Pendolino lengthening and fleet expansion project". Department for Transport. 28 March 2008. Archived from the original on 8 April 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2019 – via The National Archives.
  29. ^ . Virgin Trains. 31 July 2008. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012.
  30. ^ "We're looking to build on the retention of train franchise" (Press release). Virgin Trains. 4 February 2013. from the original on 17 June 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  31. ^ "Pendolino Coach G Conversions". The Red Letter (Mailing list). Virgin Trains. 15 June 2015. from the original on 28 March 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2019 – via Newsweaver.
  32. ^ "More Seats for Virgin Trains Pendolino Fleet" (Press release). Virgin Trains. 10 April 2015. from the original on 28 March 2018 – via Mynewsdesk.
  33. ^ "Better journeys for passengers on the West Coast Main Line" (Press release). Department for Transport. 19 June 2014. from the original on 6 July 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2014 – via gov.uk.
  34. ^ (PDF). Department for Transport. 24 March 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 June 2013.
  35. ^ . Department for Transport. 15 August 2012. Archived from the original on 31 October 2012.
  36. ^ . The Daily Telegraph. 15 August 2012. Archived from the original on 1 September 2017.
  37. ^ . BBC News. 15 August 2012. Archived from the original on 19 August 2018.
  38. ^ . BBC News. 28 August 2012. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018.
  39. ^ . Department for Transport. 3 October 2012. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012.
  40. ^ . The Daily Telegraph. 5 December 2012. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018.
  41. ^ "Virgin Rail Group West Coast rail franchise". RNS – London Stock Exchange. 21 December 2018. from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  42. ^ "Bra wars: Virgin Trains in row over see-through uniforms". AOL Travel UK. 8 May 2013. from the original on 19 September 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
  43. ^ . Department for Transport. 27 November 2014. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014.
  44. ^ . BBC News. 27 November 2014. Archived from the original on 28 November 2014.
  45. ^ Elder, Bryce (29 November 2017). "Stagecoach soars after government intervenes on contract". Financial Times. London: Nikkei. from the original on 3 December 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  46. ^ Topham, Gwyn (29 November 2017). "East Coast rail 'bailout' could cost taxpayers hundreds of millions". The Guardian. London. from the original on 2 December 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  47. ^ "East Coast train line to be put into public control". BBC News. 12 February 2018. from the original on 14 November 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  48. ^ "East coast main line trains back in public hands again next month". from the original on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  49. ^ New West Coast rail franchise to run HS2 services 7 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine BBC News 4 November 2016
  50. ^ Wanted: Superfast mover to partner Virgin and Stagecoach for HS2 5 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine The Times 4 March 2017
  51. ^ RENFE poised to join Virgin's HS2 franchise bid 13 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine Railway Gazette International 12 March 2017
  52. ^ Stagecoach and Virgin to join forces with SNCF for West Coast Partnership Bid 27 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine Stagecoach 25 July 2017
  53. ^ Stagecoach and SNCF lead Virgin-branded bid for HS2 operations 25 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine Railway Gazette International 25 July 2017
  54. ^ "Stagecoach disqualified from bidding for three British franchises". International Railway Journal. 10 April 2019.
  55. ^ . The Independent. 10 April 2019. Archived from the original on 10 April 2019.
  56. ^ "Stagecoach takes legal action over West Coast franchise". BBC News. 24 May 2019.
  57. ^ "Decision to disqualify bidders from rail franchise procurements was lawful: High Court". localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk. 17 June 2020.
  58. ^ Hart, Charlie (18 June 2020). "Stagecoach 'disappointed' by High Court ruling on rail bid ban". Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply.
  59. ^ Virgin Trains plans rival London-Liverpool services after franchise loss 11 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine 11 June 2019
  60. ^ "Riding the Big Ticket" Railway Digest August 1998. p 18.
  61. ^ Cohen, Howard (16 November 2018). "Brightline forms a partnership with Virgin. A name change is coming soon". Miami Herald.
  62. ^ Branson, Richard (16 November 2018). "Introducing Virgin Trains USA". Virgin. from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  63. ^ Levin, Jonathan (7 August 2020). "Florida Luxury Train Cuts Branson Ties, Drops Virgin Name". Bloomberg Media.
  64. ^ Ohnsman, Alan (7 August 2020). "High-Speed Rail Startup Brightline Ends Alliance With Richard Branson's Virgin". Forbes. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  65. ^ Johnston, Katie (11 August 2020). "Brightline Trains Ends Partnership With Richard Branson's Virgin Group". WFOR-TV. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  66. ^ Lyons, David (8 March 2021). "Virgin sues Brightline for $251.3 million over marketing divorce". sun-sentinel.com. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  67. ^ Burroughs, David (9 March 2021). "Virgin sues Brightline for $US 251.3m over naming contract". International Railway Journal. Retrieved 17 March 2021.

External links Edit

  • Official website

October 15, 2023
virgin, rail, group, formed, virgin, group, rail, franchises, united, kingdom, during, privatisation, british, rail, late, 1990s, typelimited, companyindustrytransportfounded1997founderrichard, bransonheadquarterslondon, englandarea, servedunited, kingdomowner. Virgin Rail Group 1 was formed by the Virgin Group to bid for rail franchises in the United Kingdom during the privatisation of British Rail in the late 1990s Virgin Rail GroupTypeLimited companyIndustryTransportFounded1997FounderRichard BransonHeadquartersLondon EnglandArea servedUnited KingdomOwnerVirgin Group 51 Stagecoach 49 SubsidiariesVirgin CrossCountry 1997 2007 Virgin Trains West Coast 1997 2019 Websitewww wbr virgintrains wbr co wbr ukVirgin Trains West Coast Pendolino at Birmingham New Street in September 2003 Contents 1 United Kingdom operations 1 1 1990s 1 2 2000s 1 3 2010s 2 Non United Kingdom rail operations 3 In popular culture 4 References 5 External linksUnited Kingdom operations Edit1990s Edit Amid the privatisation of British Rail during the mid 1990s Virgin submitted multiple bids to operate several different train franchises including Gatwick Express InterCity CrossCountry and InterCity West Coast 2 It was successful in winning the latter two leading to Virgin CrossCountry and Virgin West Coast commencing operations in January and March 1997 respectively 3 4 Both franchises were scheduled to run for 15 years One of Virgin s franchise commitments was to replace the British Rail era locomotives and rolling stock inherited by Virgin West Coast with brand new tilting trains Following negotiations with several manufacturers Virgin placed an order with Alstom Fiat Ferroviaria to produce the envisioned tilting train which was known by the name Pendolino and was later designated under TOPS as the Class 390 5 It was expected that the Pendolinos would run at service speeds of up to 140 mph 225 km h and that the whole fleet would be delivered by May 2002 6 The service introduction of the Pendolino was repeatedly delayed a fact which has been attributed to the poor project management and the collapse of infrastructure owner Railtrack 7 In order for tilting trains to be operated Railtrack had committed itself to upgrading the West Coast Main Line as to permit 140 mph operation by 2005 However the modernisation of the line suffered from spiralling costs rising from an estimated 2 billion to roughly 10 billion 8 while the programme had failures that were technical as well as managerial such as the moving block signalling apparatus being immature for such a busy mixed traffic mainline 9 10 Railtrack would ultimately collapse while its successor Network Rail would also be unable to fully deliver the promised upgrade heavily impacting Virgin West Coast s operations 11 12 The upgrade programme would be cut back as a result the top speed was reduced to 125 mph 13 The Pendalino fleet was introduced into passenger services from Birmingham International to Manchester Piccadilly on 23 July 200 coinciding with the opening of the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester 14 In October 1998 Virgin Group sold 49 of the shares in Virgin Rail Group to the British transport company Stagecoach 15 2000s Edit In March 2000 Virgin was shortlisted to bid for the InterCity East Coast franchise 16 17 During January 2002 the Strategic Rail Authority scrapped the refranchising process and awarded a two year extension to GNER 18 In the wake of the collapse of Railtrack and the inability of Network Rail to deliver on the 140 mph 225 km h West Coast Main Line upgrade both the Virgin CrossCountry and Virgin West Coast franchises were suspended in favour of management contracts in July 2002 19 20 21 While the terms of the West Coast franchise were renegotiated agreement could not be reached on CrossCountry and it was retendered in 2007 While Virgin Trains did bid to retain the franchise it was awarded to Arriva thus the services operated by Virgin CrossCountry were transferred to CrossCountry on 11 November 2007 22 23 During 2004 Virgin was again shortlisted to bid for the InterCity East Coast franchise but was ultimately unsuccessful the franchise was instead won by Sea Containers parent company of then train operator Great North Eastern Railway 24 After Sea Containers was stripped of the East Coast franchise due to poor financial management 25 Virgin was again shortlisted for the InterCity East Coast franchise in February 2007 submitting a bid had a 10 shareholding by the incumbent Sea Containers However this bid was not successful as the franchise was won by National Express 26 27 During July 2008 Virgin was awarded a contract by the DfT to manage the introduction of 106 extra Class 390 Pendolino carriages 28 29 Virgin Trains made further enhancements to the Pendolino fleet 30 perhaps most noticeable change was the 21 nine car units each had one first class carriage converted to standard class 31 32 33 2010s Edit Virgin was shortlisted for the InterCity West Coast franchise by the DfT in March 2011 34 In August 2012 the Department awarded FirstGroup the new franchise 35 Virgin felt that the methodology used to award the franchise was flawed and Richard Branson said it was unlikely Virgin would bid for any future franchises 36 37 When the DfT did not respond to Virgin s concerns it launched proceedings for a judicial review 38 While preparing its case for the judicial review the government discovered significant technical flaws in the way the franchise process had been conducted and cancelled the competition vindicating Virgin s protests 39 In December 2012 Virgin was awarded a 23 month management contract to run the West Coast franchise until November 2014 40 the contract was extended in stages until March 2020 41 During May 2013 there was a controversy regarding new uniforms with claims that the blouses were too revealing and potentially exposed dark bras to the public Virgin Rail Group responded to this by offering a voucher worth 20 to allow employees to purchase a top to wear underneath the new blouses 42 In March 2015 Virgin Trains East Coast commenced operating the InterCity East Coast franchise the company was a joint venture between Stagecoach 90 and Virgin Group 10 43 44 Due to the line performing below VTEC s expectations it was announced in May 2018 that the contract would be terminated early by the government 45 46 VTEC ceased operating on 23 June 2018 and operations passed to a government owned operator London North Eastern Railway 47 48 In November 2016 the government announced that the InterCity West Coast franchise would be replaced by a new franchise named the West Coast Partnership which included operating High Speed 2 HS2 Services are planned to begin on the first phase of HS2 in 2026 49 The DfT requires that the new operator have experience in operating high speed trains 250 mph and infrastructure 50 51 To satisfy this requirement Stagecoach 50 and Virgin 20 bid in a joint venture with SNCF 30 52 53 In April 2019 Stagecoach revealed that it had been disqualified from the franchises it was bidding for including the West Coast Partnership 54 55 One month later the company announced that it would legally challenge the disqualification 56 However on 17 June 2020 the High Court ruled against the company and that the decision had been lawful 57 58 Accordingly Virgin Trains ceased in December 2019 In June 2019 Virgin lodged an application to the Office of Rail amp Road for an open access service from London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street calling at Nuneaton Tamworth Lichfield Trent Valley Liverpool South Parkway and Liverpool Lime Street to rival the West Coast Partnership franchisee from May 2021 59 The application was later withdrawn Non United Kingdom rail operations EditIn 1998 Virgin Rail as part of the Capital Rail consortium was shortlisted for an Australian high speed rail service from Sydney to Canberra 60 During November 2018 it was announced that Virgin Group would become a minority investor in the American company Brightline and would provide rights to rebrand the service as Virgin Trains USA 61 62 However in August 2020 managers at the company alleged that Virgin had not provided the agreed investment money and thus it would be ending its branding deal returning to the previous Brightline brand 63 64 65 In March 2021 Virgin sued Brightline for 251 3 million because of the broken contract 66 67 In popular culture EditVirgin s role in the privatisation of British Rail was lampooned in Thomas the Privatised Tank Engine a 1994 parody children s book published by Private Eye magazine A send up of The Railway Series by the Reverend W Awdry it mentions characters such as Gordon the Virgin Engine Gordon the Big Engine and The Bearded Controller The Fat Controller reimagined as Richard Branson References Edit Companies House extract company no 03282548 Archived 8 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine Virgin Rail Group Limited National Express wins Gatwick rail franchise Archived 25 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine The Independent 4 April 1996 Virgin to run CrossCountry trains Archived 7 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine The Independent 14 November 1996 Harrison Michael 31 January 1997 Virgin pledges tilt trains for West Coast The Independent Archived from the original on 20 August 2017 Retrieved 4 October 2012 Full tilt Virgin s 140mph Pendolino trains Mathieson SA March 2002 Archived from the original on 27 September 2013 Retrieved 13 May 2011 Knight Stephen 2 December 1998 Virgin s first West Coast tilt train on test by July 2000 PDF Rail No 345 EMAP Apex Publications ISSN 0953 4563 OCLC 49953699 Archived PDF from the original on 20 May 2018 Retrieved 13 November 2011 Hughes Murray 1 February 2003 Pendolino to attack the London Manchester market Railway Gazette International Sutton DVV Media Group ISSN 0373 5346 Archived from the original on 28 July 2019 Retrieved 13 November 2019 Repair costs spiral to 5bn BBC News 15 December 1999 Archived from the original on 10 November 2013 Meek James 1 April 2004 The main players in the 10bn rail fiasco The Guardian The Modernisation of the West Coast Main Line National Audit Office Archived from the original on 21 July 2021 Retrieved 21 July 2021 Christian Wolmar 16 July 2005 Forget Byers the scandal was in the original sell off Railtrack was heading for disaster long before the Hatfield crash The Guardian Supplementary memorandum by the Strategic Rail Authority House of Commons 22 July 2002 West Coast railway upgrade under threat The Telegraph 24 July 2003 Retrieved 31 March 2020 Virgin Pendolino starts Railway Gazette International Sutton DVV Media Group 1 September 2002 ISSN 0373 5346 Archived from the original on 28 March 2017 Retrieved 18 November 2019 Virgin passengers get better deal BBC News 7 October 1998 Archived from the original on 3 March 2013 Six Companies Shortlisted for First Franchise Replacement Round Shadow Strategic Rail Authority 14 March 2000 Archived from the original on 16 October 2013 Virgin s 200 mph East Coast Vision BBC News 6 March 2000 Archived from the original on 22 October 2013 High speed GNER trains scrapped BBC News 16 January 2002 Archived from the original on 5 September 2013 Virgin Rail Group Interim Agreement House of Commons Select Committee on Transport Archived from the original on 7 September 2017 CrossCountry could be carved up as SRA rejects Virgin bid Rail Magazine No 494 18 August 2004 p 6 CrossCountry network could be axed fears Virgin The Railway Magazine No 1242 October 2004 p 4 New Cross Country Franchise Specification Issued Virgin Trains 31 October 2006 Archived from the original on 4 September 2011 Department for Transport announces winner of New Cross Country franchise Department for Transport 10 July 2007 GNER wins second franchise term Railway Gazette International 1 May 2005 Archived from the original on 4 October 2013 From poisoned chalice to Holy Grail Rail Bauer Media Group 7 January 2015 Retrieved 19 December 2020 Four in East Coast rail shortlist BBC News 20 February 2007 Archived from the original on 22 February 2007 National Express awarded contract for growth on InterCity East Coast Press release Department for Transport 14 August 2007 Archived from the original on 19 December 2007 Retrieved 14 August 2007 Pendolino lengthening and fleet expansion project Department for Transport 28 March 2008 Archived from the original on 8 April 2010 Retrieved 13 November 2019 via The National Archives Virgin Rail Group welcomes decision on longer Pendolino trains Virgin Trains 31 July 2008 Archived from the original on 21 October 2012 We re looking to build on the retention of train franchise Press release Virgin Trains 4 February 2013 Archived from the original on 17 June 2018 Retrieved 6 April 2013 Pendolino Coach G Conversions The Red Letter Mailing list Virgin Trains 15 June 2015 Archived from the original on 28 March 2018 Retrieved 13 November 2019 via Newsweaver More Seats for Virgin Trains Pendolino Fleet Press release Virgin Trains 10 April 2015 Archived from the original on 28 March 2018 via Mynewsdesk Better journeys for passengers on the West Coast Main Line Press release Department for Transport 19 June 2014 Archived from the original on 6 July 2014 Retrieved 19 June 2014 via gov uk Shortlisted Bidders for Greater Anglia and InterCity West Coast Franchises PDF Department for Transport 24 March 2011 Archived from the original PDF on 6 June 2013 New operator for West Coast passengers Department for Transport 15 August 2012 Archived from the original on 31 October 2012 Richard Branson attacks Government insanity after Virgin loses West Coast contract The Daily Telegraph 15 August 2012 Archived from the original on 1 September 2017 Virgin Trains loses West Coast Mainline franchise BBC News 15 August 2012 Archived from the original on 19 August 2018 Virgin Trains takes West Coast Main Line court action BBC News 28 August 2012 Archived from the original on 28 September 2018 West Coast Main Line franchise competition cancelled Department for Transport 3 October 2012 Archived from the original on 10 October 2012 Two year extension for Virgin Rail after West Coast chaos The Daily Telegraph 5 December 2012 Archived from the original on 25 December 2018 Virgin Rail Group West Coast rail franchise RNS London Stock Exchange 21 December 2018 Archived from the original on 25 December 2018 Retrieved 25 December 2018 Bra wars Virgin Trains in row over see through uniforms AOL Travel UK 8 May 2013 Archived from the original on 19 September 2018 Retrieved 22 August 2013 More seats more services and new trains for East Coast passengers Department for Transport 27 November 2014 Archived from the original on 5 December 2014 Stagecoach and Virgin win East Coast mainline rail franchise BBC News 27 November 2014 Archived from the original on 28 November 2014 Elder Bryce 29 November 2017 Stagecoach soars after government intervenes on contract Financial Times London Nikkei Archived from the original on 3 December 2017 Retrieved 2 December 2017 Topham Gwyn 29 November 2017 East Coast rail bailout could cost taxpayers hundreds of millions The Guardian London Archived from the original on 2 December 2017 Retrieved 2 December 2017 East Coast train line to be put into public control BBC News 12 February 2018 Archived from the original on 14 November 2018 Retrieved 15 May 2018 East coast main line trains back in public hands again next month Archived from the original on 17 May 2018 Retrieved 16 May 2018 New West Coast rail franchise to run HS2 services Archived 7 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine BBC News 4 November 2016 Wanted Superfast mover to partner Virgin and Stagecoach for HS2 Archived 5 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine The Times 4 March 2017 RENFE poised to join Virgin s HS2 franchise bid Archived 13 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine Railway Gazette International 12 March 2017 Stagecoach and Virgin to join forces with SNCF for West Coast Partnership Bid Archived 27 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine Stagecoach 25 July 2017 Stagecoach and SNCF lead Virgin branded bid for HS2 operations Archived 25 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine Railway Gazette International 25 July 2017 Stagecoach disqualified from bidding for three British franchises International Railway Journal 10 April 2019 Virgin Trains to disappear in less than a year due to pensions row The Independent 10 April 2019 Archived from the original on 10 April 2019 Stagecoach takes legal action over West Coast franchise BBC News 24 May 2019 Decision to disqualify bidders from rail franchise procurements was lawful High Court localgovernmentlawyer co uk 17 June 2020 Hart Charlie 18 June 2020 Stagecoach disappointed by High Court ruling on rail bid ban Chartered Institute of Procurement amp Supply Virgin Trains plans rival London Liverpool services after franchise loss Archived 11 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine 11 June 2019 Riding the Big Ticket Railway Digest August 1998 p 18 Cohen Howard 16 November 2018 Brightline forms a partnership with Virgin A name change is coming soon Miami Herald Branson Richard 16 November 2018 Introducing Virgin Trains USA Virgin Archived from the original on 13 May 2019 Retrieved 16 November 2018 Levin Jonathan 7 August 2020 Florida Luxury Train Cuts Branson Ties Drops Virgin Name Bloomberg Media Ohnsman Alan 7 August 2020 High Speed Rail Startup Brightline Ends Alliance With Richard Branson s Virgin Forbes Retrieved 10 August 2020 Johnston Katie 11 August 2020 Brightline Trains Ends Partnership With Richard Branson s Virgin Group WFOR TV Retrieved 9 September 2020 Lyons David 8 March 2021 Virgin sues Brightline for 251 3 million over marketing divorce sun sentinel com Retrieved 17 March 2021 Burroughs David 9 March 2021 Virgin sues Brightline for US 251 3m over naming contract International Railway Journal Retrieved 17 March 2021 External links EditOfficial website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Virgin Rail Group amp oldid 1170340901, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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