This article is about the former train operating company. For the current train operating company, see London North Eastern Railway. For the other former train operating companies, see Virgin Trains and Virgin CrossCountry. For other uses, see Virgin Trains (disambiguation).
2015–2018 UK train operating company
Virgin Trains East Coast
InterCity 225 and HST at London King's Cross in May 2017
Overview
Franchise(s)
InterCity East Coast
1 March 2015 – 23 June 2018
Main route(s)
London–Aberdeen
London–Edinburgh
London–Newcastle
London–York
London–Leeds
London–Newark
Other route(s)
Leeds–Aberdeen
London–Inverness
London–Glasgow
London–Sunderland
London–Skipton
London–Bradford
London–Harrogate
London–Hull
London–Lincoln
Fleet size
31 InterCity 225 sets
14 InterCity 125 sets
Stations called at
53
Stations operated
12
Parent company
Stagecoach Group (90%)
Virgin Group (10%)
Reporting mark
GR
Predecessor
East Coast
Successor
London North Eastern Railway
Other
Website
www.lner.co.uk
Route map
Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC) (legal name East Coast Main Line Company Limited[1]) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom that operated the InterCity East Coast franchise on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland. It commenced operations on 1 March 2015, taking over from East Coast as a joint venture between Stagecoach (90%) and Virgin Group (10%).
It was originally intended to run until 2023 and return £3.3 billion to the government in the form of franchise premiums, but, due to the line performing below VTEC's expectations, it was announced in May 2018 that the contract would be terminated early by the government; VTEC ceased operating on 23 June 2018, when operations passed to the government-owned operator, London North Eastern Railway.
While the operation itself was profitable, VTEC placed part of the blame for the under-performance with respect to their franchise bid on their belief that the government had failed to deliver expected upgrades or new trains, while the government claimed VTEC had simply overbid. Given it was the third instance of the East Coast franchise needing to be terminated early for financial reasons, it was announced the next permanent arrangement, to begin in 2020, would feature closer co-operation between the private sector and Network Rail, the state-owned operator of the infrastructure.
^"East Coast Main Line Company Limited". Companies House. Archived from the original on 24 June 2018.
and 23 Related for: Virgin Trains East Coast information
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