Virgin to the rescue

[dk1]

Good to see rail getting in quick. They say its an ill wind that doesnt blow somebody some good.

www.railnews.co.uk/news/general/2009/12/15-virgin-plans-to-double-glasgow.html

Will be interesting to see how they manipulate the fleet .

 

[Mike Redding]

Note to self: Reserve a seat for when i travel down south from Penrith on the 28th.

I wonder if we will see any Loco-Hauled sevices?

 

[fgwrich]

Good to see rail getting in quick. They say its an ill wind that doesnt blow somebody some good.

www.railnews.co.uk/news/general/2009/12/15-virgin-plans-to-double-glasgow.html

Will be interesting to see how they manipulate the fleet .

True, Perphaps we might see some extra L&C sets then

Especialy with at least 2 pendilinos out of traffic for repairs...

But it certainly will be interesting to see how this all goes for the rail vs Air argument, and hopefully, virgin can win over passengers this christmas!

 

[Mojo]

Probably not loco hauled to Glasgow, but I should imagine they'd have to provide some on other routes. Although saying that there may be engineering work for at least half of the days (between Christmas & New Year) the strike is on, meaning they need less trains.

 

[ukrob]

Almost certainly not loco hauled, they want to win passengers over, not 'help out' and they need to be as fast as possible for that. They will be Pendolinos with other services being loco hauled and clever short term diagramming.

 

[dk1]

I like the way they mention the Manc route as having enough capacity to absorb "the small number of BA passengers who continue to fly between Manchester & London".

 

[matt]

Apparently this is 25 extra services over the whole strike period not 25 extra services a day according to posters on wnxx.

 

[jopsuk]

That's certainly what the Press Release on the Virgin trains website would indicate- doubling the number of trains would have been truly mental! That number over the period seems to be a little more doable!

 

[paul1609]

Apparently this is 25 extra services over the whole strike period not 25 extra services a day according to posters on wnxx.

I was going to say! I think BA only have about 15 flights to Glasgow from all the London Airports with say 200 seats each. the majority of these passengers will switch to alternative airlines.

i like Virgins style and I would travel with them to Scotland on my business trips if i could make a case sadly rail just isnt competitive for the average business traveller.

 

[route:oxford]

This is great news for anyone trying to get from London to Scotland this Christmas.

Now, wonder why East Coast trains aren't promoting additional services to Edinburgh/Aberdeen/Inverness...

I'm sure it's got nothing to do with a labour government operated company being seen to be aiding those affected by industrial action...

Any chance of First Group helping their Scottish Customers by running a spare (if they have one) set direct from Heathrow to Edinburgh via Paddington?

 

[dk1]

This is great news for anyone trying to get from London to Scotland this Christmas.

Any chance of First Group helping their Scottish Customers by running a spare (if they have one) set direct from Heathrow to Edinburgh via Paddington?

Diesel trains not permitted into Heathrow tunnels & FGW train would probably not be allowed from Paddington anyway due to moderation of competition. Charter trains might be allowed but do not have much chance of offering a comparable journey time with VWC Euston Pendo schedules.

 

[87015]

I see the PR machine is in full spin to make this much fuss over one additional service..... must have never ever happened before?

 

[Failed Unit]

I was going to say! I think BA only have about 15 flights to Glasgow from all the London Airports with say 200 seats each. the majority of these passengers will switch to alternative airlines.

I suspect what will happen in reality is that the services which are currently terminating at Lancaster will run forward to Glasgow instead. I am sure they could jiggle around some diagrams to sort it, even if they use voyagers instead of pendo's on some routes.

i like Virgins style and I would travel with them to Scotland on my business trips if i could make a case sadly rail just isnt competitive for the average business traveller.

I know the feeling, it all depends on where you are travelling from and too. I do central london - Stirling one way by day train the other by the sleeper. The train is only about 30 minutes slower door to door when you include the travel to / from the airport but at least I get a full meal and can work on the move. However if you are closer to the airport I agree rail will never cut the mustard.

This is great news for anyone trying to get from London to Scotland this Christmas.

Now, wonder why East Coast trains aren't promoting additional services to Edinburgh/Aberdeen/Inverness...

I'm sure it's got nothing to do with a labour government operated company being seen to be aiding those affected by industrial action...

If you have a look at the Christmas east coast timetable there isn't much they can do, even if they had spare sets. They already have extended many services to Edinburgh that would normally terminate at Newcastle. The east coast service is more frequent anyway. no 2 hour gaps on the east coast.

 

[route:oxford]

Diesel trains not permitted into Heathrow tunnels & FGW train would probably not be allowed from Paddington anyway due to moderation of competition. Charter trains might be allowed but do not have much chance of offering a comparable journey time with VWC Euston Pendo schedules.

So purely theoretical then...

Would the rule permit a HST set being dragged by an electric Loco through the tunnels?

 

[Failed Unit]

So purely theoretical then...

Would the rule permit a HST set being dragged by an electric Loco through the tunnels?

Don't know but 91's have been known to drag HST's. Not sure if a power car needs to be live to provide heating. This was the case when the Mk3 were working with the 91's in the 80's but not sure about dragging.

 

[Waddon]

Would the rule permit a HST set being dragged by an electric Loco through the tunnels?

I imagine diesels are banned for emissions reasons, but also due to not wanting to take fuel tanks full of fuel into the tunnels for fire safety reasons. So you probably could take one through but its tanks would have to be drained first, which kind of defeats the point...

 

[Old Timer]

Why not just put a 91 and stock in there ?

 

[Ferret]

I see the PR machine is in full spin to make this much fuss over one additional service..... must have never ever happened before?

It's just the Bearded one taking another dig at BA - there's a long history of Virgin B747s and A340s having anti BA slogans emblazoned on the side for a start! All's fair in business matey!

 

[Old Timer]

It's just the Bearded one taking another dig at BA - there's a long history of Virgin B747s and A340s having anti BA slogans emblazoned on the side for a start! All's fair in business matey!

That's ALMOST enough to push me towards an American airline.....but not quite.

JFK via AMS again I think

 

[Drimnagh Road]

BA are going to try and halt this strike in the High Court tomorrow based on balloting flaws so let's see what happens there.

 

[harz99]

Don't know but 91's have been known to drag HST's. Not sure if a power car needs to be live to provide heating. This was the case when the Mk3 were working with the 91's in the 80's but not sure about dragging.

Needs a power car running to provide power for all the on train ancillary systems, which a 91 is not compatible with.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Why not just put a 91 and stock in there ?

No spare 91s anyway!

 

[Psychocowboy]

Now, wonder why East Coast trains aren't promoting additional services to Edinburgh/Aberdeen/Inverness...

- Did NXEC not put adverts in all the National Papers last time this happened giving people free / discounted travel if they turned up with a BA boarding pass?

 

[dk1]

Now, wonder why East Coast trains aren't promoting additional services to Edinburgh/Aberdeen/Inverness...

- Did NXEC not put adverts in all the National Papers last time this happened giving people free / discounted travel if they turned up with a BA boarding pass?

That was Virgin i think. During the Fog Bound Heathrow Yuletide Pantomime they could go 1st class on presentation of a valid BA ticket. Clever really & on Manchester route Virgin WC are cleaning up the market now anyway.

 

[Chester025]

I imagine diesels are banned for emissions reasons, but also due to not wanting to take fuel tanks full of fuel into the tunnels for fire safety reasons. So you probably could take one through but its tanks would have to be drained first, which kind of defeats the point...

Diesels have been to Heathrow Airport before: http://www.wnxx.info/pix/2009/0902/270209/index.htm But this was for testing purposes so just a one off.

 

[jopsuk]

No extra trains, but East Coast did have a full page in the Guardian (so I'm guessing other papers too) today, calling their service a "Helpline". Associated web page is here.

Basically from the 24th until the 3rd, all day every day (when trains are running) is "Super off Peak".

 

[Pumbaa]

No extra trains, but East Coast did have a full page in the Guardian (so I'm guessing other papers too) today, calling their service a "Helpline". Associated web page is here.

Basically from the 24th until the 3rd, all day every day (when trains are running) is "Super off Peak".

Yep - saw this. Was in the Times as well I think it might have been.

 

[Failed Unit]

http://mediaroom.virgintrains.co.uk/

Virgin saves the day although now for fly globespan passengers. East coast is more making people aware of what they already have. Although from experience in previous years they can fill them fairly well without extra airline passengers.