By THEO STEEL
Feature
Retired railway manager THEO STEEL reviews open access operation
December 2017 marks 10 years since Grand Central (GC) burst on the scene with its initial services to Sunderland. It joined Hull Trains (established in 2003) as an open access operator on the East Coast main line.
GC’s services followed the main line to Northallerton and then ran north of Eaglescliffe along the Durham coast – a route that had not had through services to London since the advent of HSTs. The operator began services on its second route via Wakefield Kirkgate through Mirfield, Brighouse, Halifax and now Low Moor to Bradford Interchange in 2011.
