Consultation over Grand Central access extension

摘要

A consultation period relating to the extension of a track access agreement for open access operator Grand Central has begun. Grand Central has applied to the Office of Rail Regulation for a 10-year extension to its current agreement - which expires in 2016 - to allow it to continue running services between King's Cross, Bradford, York, Sunderland and Hartlepool. Within the application is provision for the operator to invest in its fleet by dispensing with its HSTs and using a uniform fleet of Class 180 DEMUs. The DEMUs would be sourced from the First Great Western fleet, which is expected to become available as the Hitachi Class 800/801 trains come on stream from 2017. Grand Central also wants to reinstate a disused platform at Hartlepool, as well as investing in car parking and passenger facilities. The consultation is being run by Network Rail on Grand Central's behalf, and a decision is expected before the end of the year.