Virgin Trains East Coast

Virgin Trains East Coast

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Virgin Trains East Coast HST at Leeds station
Overview
Franchise(s):	InterCity East Coast 1 March 2015 – 31 March 2023
Main route(s):	London - Aberdeen London - Edinburgh London - Newcastle London - York London - Leeds London - Newark
Other route(s):	London - Inverness London - Glasgow London - Sunderland London - Skipton London - Bradford London - Harrogate London - Hull London - Lincoln
Fleet size:	31 InterCity 225 sets 14 InterCity 125 sets
Stations called at:	53
Stations operated:	12
National Rail abbreviation:	GR
Parent company:	Stagecoach (90%) Virgin (10%)
Website:	www.virgintrainseastcoast.com
Route map

Virgin Trains East Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom that operates the InterCity East Coast franchise on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland. It commenced operations on 1 March 2015, taking over from East Coast. It is a joint venture between Stagecoach (90%), and Virgin Rail Group (10%). In most cases, generic Virgin Trains branding is used, and 'East Coast' is rarely mentioned.

History

In January 2014, FirstGroup, Keolis/Eurostar and Stagecoach/Virgin were announced as the shortlisted bidders for the new InterCity East Coast franchise. In November 2014, the eight-year franchise was awarded to the Stagecoach/Virgin joint venture company Inter City Railways Limited, and commenced operating on 1 March 2015 trading as Virgin Trains East Coast.

Services

Typical off-peak Monday-Friday service pattern (including other inter-city services)

Virgin Trains East Coast took over all of the services operated by East Coast. It categorises its weekday services from London King's Cross into four routes:

	Route	Off-peak frequency	Calling at (off-peak)	Peak-time extensions
A	London King's Cross - Leeds (and West Yorkshire)	2tph	xx:05 service calling at Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield Westgate and Leeds xx:35 service calling at Stevenage, Grantham, Doncaster, Wakefield Westgate and Leeds	1tpd to Skipton 1tpd to Bradford Forster Square VIA: Skipton 1tpd to Harrogate
B	London King's Cross - Edinburgh (fast)	1tph	York, Darlington, Newcastle Central, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Edinburgh Waverley	1tpd to Inverness 1tpd to Stirling 4tpd to Aberdeen (3 from London King's Cross, 1 from Leeds) Leeds early morning- Aberdeen
C	London King's Cross - Newcastle Central and Edinburgh	1tph to Newcastle; 1tp2h extended to Edinburgh	Peterborough, Newark North Gate, Doncaster, York, Northallerton (1tp2h), Darlington, Durham, Newcastle Central, Alnmouth, Edinburgh Waverley (Northallerton is served by trains to and from Newcastle only)	1tpd to Glasgow Central 1tpd to Sunderland
D	London King's Cross - Newark / York	1tph to Newark, 1tp2h extended to York	Stevenage, Peterborough, Grantham, Newark North Gate, Retford, Doncaster, York	1tpd to Lincoln 1tpd to Hull

New services

Virgin Trains East Coast introduced once per day services to Stirling and Sunderland via Newcastle on 14 December 2015, along with one extra service each weekday evening between Hull and Doncaster via Selby. It is proposing to extend services from Newcastle to Edinburgh in May 2016 and extend services that terminate at Newark and York to Lincoln and Harrogate respectively. In May 2019, it is proposed that a half-hourly service to Edinburgh be introduced with a fleet of six to eight 7 to 8-car InterCity 225 sets operating limited stops services. In May 2020, it is proposed to extend services to Huddersfield and Middlesbrough.

Rolling stock

Virgin Trains East Coast inherited a fleet of InterCity 125 and InterCity 225s from East Coast. Most driving vehicles received a Virgin logo within the first three days of the franchise, and all train sets received a full Virgin Trains East Coast livery by November 2015. Attention then turned to the interiors with toilets to be refreshed and seat covers and carpets replaced, with the first refurbished set entered service on 31 December 2015.

In July 2015, an additional InterCity 125 set was transferred from East Midlands Trains.

Trainset	Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number
				mph	km/h
InterCity 125	Class 43		Diesel locomotive	125	200	32
	Mark 3 carriage		Passenger carriage	125	200	117
InterCity 225	Class 91		Electric locomotive	140	225	31
	Mark 4 carriage		Passenger carriage	140	225	302
	Driving Van Trailer		Driving Van Trailer	140	225	31

Future

All of the current fleet are scheduled to be replaced by Class 800/Class 801 high-speed trains from December 2018. These will operate in 9-carriage and 5-carriage sets. In March 2016, VTEC announced that its IEP trains would carry the brand name Azuma, the Japanese word for "East".

If VTEC's application to operate extra limited stops services to Edinburgh is successful, it is proposing to operate these by retaining six to eight shortened InterCity 225 sets.

Trainset	Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number of Units	Carriages	Routes
				mph	km/h
Hitachi Super Express	Class 800 Azuma		Bi-Mode Multiple Unit	140	225	13	9	All Routes
						10	5
	Class 801 Azuma		EMU	140	225	12	5	All Electric Routes
						30	9
InterCity 225	Class 91		Electric locomotive	140	225	TBC (6 to 8)	TBC (7 to 8)	London-Edinburgh
	Mark 4		Passenger carriage	140	225
			Driving Van Trailer	140	225

Depots

Virgin Trains East Coast has four main depots:

• Bounds Green in London
• Neville Hill in Leeds
• Heaton in Newcastle - managed by Northern Rail
• Craigentinny in Edinburgh - used for repaints and heavy duty maintenance

Punctuality

The public performance measure (PPM) shows the percentage of trains which arrive at their terminating station on time. It combines figures for punctuality and reliability into a single performance measure. The most recent figure (in the four weeks from 13 December 2015 - 9 January 2016) for Virgin Trains East Coast's PPM was 82.0%, up from 81.1% in the same period a year ago. The moving annual average PPM was 86.9%.

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website

Preceded by East Coast InterCity East Coast franchise

Operator of InterCity East Coast franchise 2015 - 2023

Succeeded by Incumbent