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Virgin worries on infrastructure reliability

I was very interested to read Chris Gibbs comments and observations in regard to the infrastructure on the West Coast Mainline. However, I do not think that Virgin Trains are not being very consistent in their argumentation. Please let me explain.

From 13:00 hrs on the Saturday through to Sunday afternoon from the end of March 2013 through to the May 2013, the West Coast Mainline north of Carnforth and south of Penrith has been closed for engineering work. In the last few years Network Rail has invested a lot of money in the refurbishment of the Carlisle-Settle-Hellifield-Preston route. This includes new track, sleepers, and intermediate block signaling.

With the closure of the West Coast Mainline, and noting their observations, one would have thought that Virgin Trains would have used this upgraded infrastructure, and diverted trains via Settle. This would add 80 minutes to the journey time, but of course would be a lot easier for all passengers.

However, in its wisdom, Virgin decided to divert only two northbound trains, and one southbound. For all other trains, passengers have to use alternative coach transport. There are no direct London to Carlisle trains during this period.

I would therefore suggest, that prior to Virgin Trains making any further comments in the press about improvement in areas such as reliable asset performance, they should actually do what their passengers wish, and run through trains between London, the Midlands, Carlisle, and Scotland when the main West Coast Line is not available.

Re: WCML infrastructure improvements to boost performance