Alliance Rail Holdings

Alliance Rail Holdings
Formation 2009
Location
Managing Director
 Ian Yeowart
Parent organization
 Arriva UK Trains
Website www.alliancerail.co.uk

Alliance Rail Holdings[1] is developing plans to operate passenger trains in the United Kingdom through its subsidiaries Great North Western Railway Company Limited (GNWR)[2] and Great North Eastern Railway Company Limited (GNER).[3] They were planned to start from December 2013.[4] The company is seeking access rights of up to 30 years to reflect the investment proposed.[5]

Alliance has undertaken detailed timetabling and economic work to support its application to the Office of Rail Regulation. This work will also provide the opportunity to review the potential for the re-introduction of a more regular inter-city service at locations such as Nuneaton and Tamworth, and also offer new direct services between West Yorkshire and London Euston.

Alliance is headed by Ian Yeowart,[6] founder and former managing director of Grand Central Railway. A new development team was announced on 12 August 2010.[7] The venture is majority owned by Arriva.[8]

In January 2015, the Office of Rail Regulation rejected the Great North Western proposal.[9] However, a revised Great North Western Proposal was approved in August 2015, with services to begin in 2018.[10]

Great North Western Railway

On 7 August 2015 the ORR announced that Alliance Rail had been given permission to run six trains per day between Queen's Park and Blackpool calling at Milton Keynes Central, Nuneaton, Tamworth, Lichfield Trent Valley, Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay, Preston, Kirkham and Wesham, Poulton-le-Fylde and Blackpool, starting in 2018.[11] The access rights would be for ten years from December 2017, with further tentative permission given to extend services from Queen's Park to London Euston.

Planned Rolling Stock

In 2010 it was proposed that services be operated by dual-mode (diesel + electric) Polaris trains,[5][12] capable of 140 miles per hour (230 km/h).[13] Sixteen trainsets were expected to be ordered, with a capacity of up to 350 passengers each.[14] However, the Polaris deal was not finalised and Alliance has indicated that it is investigating purchasing Pendolino type train sets from Alstom.[15]

Alliance is looking to use trains that can operate at maximum line speed with six carriages. A mixture of first and standard class seating is proposed, seating approximately 330 passengers.[16]

Previous Applications

In 2010, GNWR planned to operate services between Euston and Bradford/Halifax/Barrow-in-Furness/Workington/Whitehaven/Windermere/Southport and Morecambe, however these were rejected in 2011 by the Office Rail of Regulation.

In June 2014 GNWR successfully concluded negotiations with Network Rail for access paths to run between Euston and Blackpool/Huddersfield and Leeds from 2017 using Pendolino trains.[17][18] However, in January 2015 and despite Network Rail support, the Office of Rail Regulation refused these proposed GNWR services and the application for reasons that included protection of the revenues of Virgin Trains (the incumbent inter-city operator on the WCML) and thence payments to the Department for Transport.[9] It also cited 'capacity issues'.[9]

Great North Eastern Railway

Great North Eastern Railway

GNER, resurrecting the name of the defunct Sea Containers subsidiary, is currently planning to run between London King's Cross and Cleethorpes/Bradford Forster Square/Ilkley/Edinburgh from 2018.

It also proposed in 2009 to operate services between London King's Cross and Scarborough via Malton/Bridlington via Yorkshire Coast Line/Skegness via Grantham and Boston/Sheffield via Grantham and Alfreton/Grimsby Town via Collingham/Newcastle and Middlesbrough via Yarm, but these were rejected in 2010 by the Office of Rail and road. It was also proposed in December 2013 that services would run services between Kings Cross and Skipton via Garforth and Keighley, but these were withdrawn in 2014 by the ORR.

Prospective Services

References

  1. ↑ Companies House extract company no 7026295 Alliance Rail Holdings Limited
  2. ↑ Companies House extract company no 6938935 Great North Western Railway Company Limited
  3. ↑ Companies House extract company no 6938889 Great North Eastern Railway Company Limited
  4. ↑ Broadbent, Steve (2 December 2009). "Yeowart... challenging the old guard". Rail (632) (Peterborough). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 January 2010.
  5. 1 2 Miles, Tony (December 2010). "Blackpool through service proposed in West Coast path frenzy". Modern Railways (London). p. 6.
  6. ↑ Lynch, Russell (25 September 2009). "Rail veteran bids to revive GNER services". The Independent (London).
  7. ↑ "New development team announced" (Press release). Alliance Rail. 12 August 2010.
  8. ↑ Silvester, Katie (October 2010). "Interview: Ian Yeowart". Rail Professional. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  9. 1 2 3 "West Coast Main Line open-access bid rejected". International Rail Journal (London). 8 January 2015.
  10. ↑ Milner, Chris (7 August 2015). "Green light for Alliance Holdings service to Blackpool". The Railway Magazine.
  11. ↑ "Alliance Blackpool Service Approved". Modern Railways. Vol. 72 no. 804. September 2015. p. 8. ISSN 0026-8356. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  12. ↑ Wild, Laura (9 June 2010). "Full steam ahead for Rochdale to London train service". Rochdale Online. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  13. ↑ Kilner, Will (20 October 2010). "Rail operator plans new 140mph service to London". Telegraph & Argus (Bradford). Archived from the original on 23 October 2010. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  14. ↑ Abbit, Bethany (4 November 2010). "Bid to connect Cumbria to London with pioneering new trains". The Westmorland Gazette (Kendal). Archived from the original on 7 November 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  15. 1 2 "New Edinburgh – London Rail Services" (Press release). Alliance Rail Holdings. 12 December 2013.
  16. ↑ "Frequently asked questions". Alliance Rail.
  17. ↑ "GNWR granted access to West Coast main line", www.globalrailnews.com, 12 June 2014
  18. ↑ http://www.alliancerail.co.uk/wp-content/themes/alliance/GNWR%20Application/track%20access%20contract/track%20access%20contract.pdf
  19. ↑ "GNER". Alliance Rail. Retrieved 22 December 2013.

External links

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