Comment: Virgin may rue hard-line stance

Apr 18 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

COULD the Government be planning to end Virgin’s grip on the Liverpool to London line? There are certainly some observers who think this may now be on the cards.

Virgin will boast many fans among the commuters who regularly journey to and from the capital via the West Coast main line. But it also has its fair share of critics who feel the cost of their ticket should entitle them to travel in comfort.

The company may well have pushed its luck a trifle too far by refusing to take part in testing new Pendolino trains which would have also eased overcrowding problems.

Virgin argued the proposal inflicted large costs on the company and offered to run the extra carriages only if the Department for Transport extended its West Coast franchise to 2014.

This row has been quietly escalating for some time now, with accusations of blackmail being levelled at Richard Branson’s company by politicians.

And Virgin’s unyielding position has now so angered transport ministers that they are seeking a rival operator to test new Pendolinos for the line. This “shadow operator” would procure and manufacture the new carriages, then test them in readiness for the new 2012 franchise.

This would seem to put the successful bidder in a very favourable position when that tender is offered again.

But, in the meantime, rail passengers are likely to have to put up with older carriages until 2012 – a frustrating set of circumstances as the stock will actually be ready for use in 2011.

The shorter journey time between Liverpool and London is hugely attractive to commuters, and has helped boost Virgin’s profile and coffers. It is a disappointing state of affairs that a company which has gained so much from this franchise is not prepared to embark on a trial that will only benefit the very passengers who support it.

This could very well turn out to be a business strategy that Virgin has cause to regret, long after 2014 has been and gone.