Grand Union Trains has revised its application for a London to Stirling service via the West Coast main line, with off-lease ‘22x’ rolling stock now proposed with a new start date of June 2025.
It is likely this refers to the Class 221s currently operated by Avanti West Coast, which are due to be replaced by new Hitachi trains in the coming months, and have tilt capability to achieve enhanced speeds on the WCML. Grand Union says an area of concern for Network Rail was planned power supply upgrades and their delivery dates, but with no delivery plan for power supply upgrades the use of a diesel fleet will sidestep this issue.
Four services each way per day are proposed, running from Stirling via the Scottish central route with calls at Larbert, Greenfaulds, Whifflet, Motherwell, Lockerbie, Carlisle, Preston, Nuneaton and Milton Keynes. A stop at Crewe is also desired, but unable to be delivered within this timetable. Services…
