A ROW over rail overcrowding descended into farce yesterday – when a new train was mothballed, instead of running on the Liverpool to London line.
The 11-carriage Pendolino arrived at a depot in Edge Hill, where it could stay for 16 months, after talks between Virgin and the Department for Transport (DfT) broke down.
Now a further three trains will be stored in the same depot, because there is no agreement to introduce them on the West Coast line until April, 2012 – despite severe overcrowding problems.
Last night, the watchdog Passenger Focus led calls for a rethink, saying: "Passengers will want the new carriages that have been ordered for the West Coast to start service as soon as possible, to alleviate overcrowding.
"We hope that commercial negotiations between Virgin and the Department for Transport enable this to happen without delay."
If the trains do remain mothballed until April, 2012, that will be two years later than Virgin wanted to put them in place – after warning passengers would be forced to stand on one in six trains without them.
In recent weeks, concern has grown over a weekly stampede at London's Euston station, every Friday evening, when passengers scramble to get on trains heading north.
The row dates back three years, when Virgin first refused to run extra – and longer – trains on the West Coast line, unless the DfT extended its franchise beyond 2012.
