London - Rail passengers travelling across Britain have always been able to enjoy first-class travel – until now.
But a new standard class only service from London to Edinburgh is set to overturn a tradition of luxury rail travel that began in Victorian times.
FirstGroup will run five trains a day from 2021, under a 10-year deal, with tickets costing from less than £25 (R577) each way for the 640km trip.
The budget operation – which has been given the go-ahead by the office of the rail regulator – will compete with the franchised East Coast Main Line operator, Virgin, as well as airlines and coach services.
Tim O’Toole, chief executive of FirstGroup, said: “Our new trains will be cheaper than other rail services, greener than the plane, quicker than the coach and will get passengers from London to Edinburgh earlier than they can arrive now, and all for an average fare for less than £25.”
The service will call at Stevenage, Newcastle and Morpeth, and will include an early-morning departure from London, arriving in the Scottish capital by 10am. Stagecoach, a 90 percent shareholder in Virgin Trains East Coast, criticised the decision allowing FirstGroup to compete, warning it was not in the interests of passengers and taxpayers.
FirstGroup’s approved bid comes after the government suggested it was keen to increase competition on the tracks to help drive fares down. The Competition and Markets Authority said that more “open access” rail operators such as FirstGroup should be allowed to rival franchise-holders, which offer limited services.
Victorian trains had three classes of accommodation – first, second and third. From 1875, second class was phased out, but third class was retained because the Railway Regulation Act of 1844 required that a third-class service was offered.
Under British Rail in 1956, third class was renamed second class, before it was renamed again as standard class in 1987. Today only first and standard class remain.
Daily Mail