Virgin XC Buyout ...

G

Gangsta_Boi

Local Line Lunatic
Virgin Trains Cross Country franchise has been bought by Arriva.
Virgin Trains XC franchise allows it to run trains through : Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Stafford. Arriva is promising 40 extra carriages for long distance services, and nearly 3,000 more seats each day on busy routes at peak times.

Thanks,
Gangsta_Boi

P.S I don't like the livery >.<
P.P.S Please post comments regarding your thoughts on this franchise change :)
 
Well I don't live in England but this is a very interesting topic wonder how there stock will be affected in the deal?
 
So does that mean Arriva is getting Virgin's XC equipment (i.e.: HST, Voyagers, etc.) or just taking over the services with their own equipment?
 
Virgin Voyagers and HSTs used on the routes affected will be painted into the new Arriva XC livery, like so:

img1.jpg

Sadly, i cant find a picture of the HST

Thanks,
Gangsta_Boi
 
Virgin XC doesnt have HSTs anymore except for the occasional leased one or two(from Midland Mainline) to cover for Voyager shortages.

Maybe the new franchise will take some spare HST sets but theres not many spare at present.:confused:
 
i read this in "the paper" one or two days ago, and with my varying attention span getting very low:p, i didnt really care, later on, i was quite baffled about it, really huge change isnt it!

the new colors look good :D

i think gner still use their hst's, but im not sure, i dont even live around where they can be found
 
The HST's will come from the spares in the Midland Mainline fleet (mostly stored powercars) with the shortfall in coaches being made up with refurbished loco hauled mk3's (ex virgin west coast) which will be made compatible with the powercars during refurbishment.

Arriva hasnt bought out Virgin XC ,the franchise that Virgin was running has come to the end of it's term and the goverment has awarded it to Arriva for its next term (Starting November 11th 2007 and lasting 8 years and 4 months) as the Arriva bid was deemed to be best (in value and in what it will produce):)
 
tbob said:
Does GNER still use theirs?
Click to expand...
Yes, they do, I was on one last Saturday: the 14.00 Kings Cross to Aberdeen. It's been a while since I've been in a Mark III First Open - seats not as nice as the refurbished Mallard MkIV sets, but nice to see no airline style seating whatsoever in First Class (as it should be!)

(Sadly, the train was a bit late into Doncaster and I missed my connection by 3 minutes and so had to spend an hour waiting for the next one! :n: )
 
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