Coronavirus: Blackpool loses planned express connection to London

‘It is heart-breaking to have to abandon our plans at this point,’ said managing director Richard McClean

End of the line: Grand Central has dropped plans to serve the Lancashire coast (Grand Central)

The “open access” train operator, Grand Central, has abandoned a plan to connection Blackpool with London Euston with five fast trains a day.

The firm, a subsidiary of German Railways, had planned to compete against Avanti West Coast, the main operator on the line from Lancashire to the capital.

It originally intended to launch services from Blackpool North via Preston, Nuneaton and Milton Keynes Central to London in spring 2020.

While Avanti runs some direct services to and from the Fylde coast, many journeys require a change of train at Preston.

When Grand Central announced the plan in June 2019, it promised better service and more competitive fares.

The company set up offices in Blackpool and recruited staff, including drivers.

But the firm now says the plans have been rendered “unfeasible” by the coronavirus pandemic.

Richard McClean, managing director of Grand Central, said: “So much effort has been put into these exciting plans to launch services between London and Blackpool, that it is heart-breaking to have to abandon them at this point.

“But the pandemic and its effect on our expansion plans have just proved too big an obstacle.

“Because Grand Central operates under an open access business model, we receive no external financial help and we rely completely on what we generate in ticket sales.

“Despite months of work to adjust our costs, and monitor travel  behaviour for signs of change it became more obvious to us that to invest in what is essentially a start-up enterprise in this climate was simply not feasible.

“Therefore we reluctantly reached the very tough decision to cease the project permanently.

“We will now concentrate on rebuilding our two existing routes, which returned to service earlier this summer, following lockdown.”

Grand Central already operates from London King’s Cross to Sunderland via York and West Yorkshire via Doncaster.

Mr McClean added: “We have explored every possibility to continue with plans to start the northwest route and protect these jobs. The people we took on have shown incredible patience and professionalism during what has been a period of great uncertainty.

“They have been at the forefront of our motivation to continue with the route and deliver services to new customers. 

“The great support we have also received from Blackpool and the other communities along the route has been a massive inspiration for us to find a solution.”

Mark Smith, the former British Rail executive who founded the Seat61.com international rail site, said: "This is a great shame as it would have been a major benefit to Blackpool, and Grand Central scores highly in the rail industry's customer-satisfaction surveys. 

“However, it's understandable given such reduced rail passenger numbers.  Indeed, there were fears that Grand Central's established east coast services would not survive the Covid-19 lockdown, but it's good to see them back in action on the east coast route at least.”

Since the coronavirus crisis began, existing rail franchise holders have been effectively nationalised, with the taxpayer underwriting the massive losses that are being sustained due to a slump in journeys and fare revenue.