Date: 09/03/2007

Concern over East Coast rail services grew last night as it emerged that station improvements and catering could be dropped by a new operator. The Government yesterday announced new trains will be tested on the East Coast Main Line - linking the region with Scotland and London - in 2012 and be fully introduced two years later. But the future of catering services and station improvements are unclear. A Department for Transport (DfT) blueprint for the new East Coast franchise, drawn up after GNER handed its contract back last year, reveals that it will be up to the new operator to decide whether to carry on with planned upgrades. Transport companies First Group, National Express, Sunderland-based Arriva, and a joint bid between Stagecoach and Virgin are in the running to replace GNER by the end of the year. It will be up to the winner to decide whether to continue with the station investments that were part of GNER's old franchise.

Related images

The portico at Newcastle Central seems to have been glassed-in since I was last here, but that was a long time ago. The space has a continental feel to it. The same departures summary is shown on six double-sided displays (there^s one behind me). One wonders how people coped in the past. Seen on 25 March 2019.
Location: Newcastle Central
Company: Newcastle and Berwick Railway
25/03/2019 David Panton

A TPE service for Liverpool Lime Street prepares to depart Newcastle^s Platform 9 on 25 March.
Location: Newcastle Central
Company: Newcastle and Berwick Railway
25/03/2019 David Panton

If that^s what he^s like with a train what is he like with his car? A driver seems to fuss over a chip in the paintwork at Newcastle on 25 March 2019. The train is for Edinburgh.
Location: Newcastle Central
Company: Newcastle and Berwick Railway
25/03/2019 David Panton

Related news items

Tags: x First Group