British transport operator FirstGroup has applied for two more “open access” services outside the major train operating contracts as the government attempts to increase competition on the rail network and cut fares.
Open access means the operator takes full commercial risk, running services on infrastructure owned by a third party, on a chosen route that is not subject to a rail franchise set by the Department for Transport.
FirstGroup began running an open access service through its Lumo business between London and Edinburgh in October 2021, which has carried more than 2.5 million passengers so far. It says train cancellations are among the lowest in the industry.
Encouraged by the success of Lumo, FirstGroup said it has recently submitted applications to the Office of Rail and Road for a new Hull Trains service between London and Sheffield, which could start in 2026, and a new Lumo service between Rochdale and London, which could begin in 2027.
It has also applied for the extension of a number of Lumo’s daily services to and from Glasgow; for an additional, eighth return service on Hull Trains between London and Hull and for an extra, sixth return Lumo service between London and Newcastle. If successful, these services will more than double its open access capacity over the next three to five years.
Along with other rail operators such as Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, which wants to make a comeback on the West Coast main line it used to run on an open access basis, FirstGroup has promised cheaper fares to under-served UK destinations.
FirstGroup, one of the UK’s biggest rail operators with more than 770,000 passenger journeys daily last year, said its open access operations had continued to perform better than expected in the year to 30 March. It has “consistently recorded some of the lowest levels of operator related cancellations in the industry”, the company said.
Lumo increased revenues by 42% year on year, with 75% of seats full, up from 71% the year before.
At Hull Trains, revenues rose 40% last year thanks to increased leisure demand and significantly higher number of business passengers. In response, the company has added 14% more capacity since December 2022, running trains with 10 carriages rather than five at peak times. Seats were 69% full, up from 59% the year before.
The company said: “We will also continue to monitor opportunities for new open access entrants in the European rail market where there are similar regulatory frameworks and commercial models to the UK.”
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The government has encouraged applications for more open access rail services to increase competition with the leading line operators. However, rail industry leaders see them as inefficient, while the RMT union has described the new model as “parasitic”.
Labour’s plan for a “pragmatic” renationalisation of the railways matches the Conservatives’ policy on open access train providers.
Labour’s policy document said open access “will remain where it adds value and capacity to the rail network”.