Head-to-head rail battle

THE new Grand Central rail service linking Yorkshire with London has launched this week competing head-to-head with National Express.

The new Grand Central service between Sunderland and Kings Cross will call at Thirsk, Northallerton and York and has started just over a week after National Express took over running the East Coast Main Line from GNER last week.

The company also has long-term plans to launch services from Bradford and Huddersfield to London.

Grand Central has pledged several incentives to encourage passengers to board its trains rather than those run by transport giant National Express.

The three times daily service, which calls at York at 8.18am, 2.07pm and 7.04pm offers more legroom for passengers and a free onboard Wi-Fi service.

Passengers boarding a train without a ticket will be able to purchase one on board without having to pay a penalty fare while those unable to get a seat will travel half-price. The standard return fare is £64 from York to London, with first-class passengers paying double.

The Grand Central service is the first direct rail service from Wearside to London for 20 years and marks the end of a two-year struggle by the firm, which is chaired by former Prism Rail boss Giles Fearnley.

Grand Central launched its bid to run the service in 2005 but it was delayed first by a consultation process by rail regulators and then a challenge by GNER, which had agreed to pay £1.3bn for a 10-year franchise.

Grand Central is seeking a timetable to run four trains a day on the Bradford to London route from December 2008, with sister company Grand Union seeking to operate on the West Coast Main Line (WCML) between Euston and Huddersfield/Bradford from 2011.

For more information see www.grandcentralrail.co.uk