Firstgroup bids to restore direct London to Rochdale route for the first time since 2000

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Open access is viewed as a success story by many in the railway industry for its ability to stimulate competition and demand.
Open access is viewed as a success story by many in the railway industry for its ability to stimulate competition and demand.

Private train operator Firstgroup has put forward plans to restore the London to Rochdale train route for the first time in almost a quarter of a century.

The plans have been submitted to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) which would establish the line that last ran in 2000.

It’s part of the company’s wider plans to expand rail through its Lumo business, building out its connectivity between London and Edinburgh, as well as its east coast routes.

Firstgroup said the new route would be electric and battery-powered, and operated by brand new trains which will be built in Britain.

The train operator has proposed six return journeys a day when the direct Rochdale route returns via Manchester Victoria.

It will run from Rochdale in Greater Manchester to London Euston, calling at Eccles, Newton-le-Willows and Warrington Bank Quay. Firstgroup said Eccles’ station would also connect it to other parts of Greater Manchester, including Salford and MediaCity.

The new route would serve around 1.6m people in the north west, while providing benefits with both of its services, Lumo and Hull trains, supporting local areas, and helping regeneration.

Firstgroup launched Lumo in October 2021 to link London, Newcastle and Edinburgh, with discussions taking place to extend it to Glasgow.

Its low-fare model and use of electric and battery power have made it both popular and cleaner. Since launch, it has carried 2.5m passengers.

Firstgroup’s share price has boomed by 45 per cent in the last year, but tumbled in April, along with Trainline’s, after Labour pledged to renationalise Britain’s railway network within a first term.

Firstgroup’s chief Graham Sutherland said “We have extensive experience of running open access rail operations and we want to bring our successful Lumo service to this new route that connects Rochdale and London.

“We have seen the level of growth and opportunity that is possible with open access, as well as the positive effect it has on the wider market, including economic and environmental benefits. In addition, the new service will help to drive modal shift from road to rail between the North West and London. We will be working closely with stakeholders as we build our application and our case for this new service.”

This comes after Rishi Sunak scrapped large parts of the HS2 route between Manchester and Birmingham.

In a speech in October, the Prime Minister committed that in “its place we will invest every single penny – £36bn – in hundreds of new transport projects in the north and the Midlands, across the country.”

However, last week, the government’s own infrastructure advisors, the National Infrastructure Commission, attacked the plans for scaled-back HS2, saying they would put huge pressure on infrastructure that’s already struggling.

Rochdale recently came into the news after firebrand MP George Galloway won the seat in a by-election.

The Office of Rail and Road has been asked for comment.