NETWORK Rail and train companies are to introduce a ‘lighter’ West Coast winter timetable lasting six weeks from 14 December to allow for the huge upgrade to bed down.

The ‘commissioning timetable’, which will be used by Virgin Trains, London Midland and other companies, means that a number of services which were due in the new winter timetable will not start running until 26 January.

The move follows intense discussions between Network Rail, the train companies and the Office of Rail Regulation.

The talks in September were in the wake of fears that the huge West Coast modernisation programme would not be sufficiently complete to run Virgin’s new three trains an hour VHF – Virgin High Frequency – services to Manchester and Birmingham.

But a spokesman for Virgin Trains applauded Network Rail for making the decision.
He said: “They have taken a brave and pragmatic decision and we support them in that view. There is going to be a very heavy programme of engineering works over Christmas again.

“We think it will be better to ease this new timetable in, and it will only affect services which are not in the timetable at the moment.”

He said the lighter timetable would mean trains for the new Chester through-service from London would be a shuttle from Crewe with connecting trains from Liverpool, and some other services from Manchester and Preston would be affected.

A spokesman for the Office of Rail Regulation said that Network Rail was still working towards the December 08 deadline. “We have previously reviewed NR’s plan and concluded that it is achievable, providing NR robustly and diligently manages the delivery of the work against the revised programme for the remainder of 2008.

“It was agreed at our meeting in September that the lighter timetable would allow some breathing space, and to try and reduce the inevitable performance dip that usually happens with the introduction of new timetables.”

- Virgin Trains has borrowed a Stagecoach express coach to tour the length of the West Coast main line with a series of roadshows, briefing staff on the West Coast VHF timetable changes being introduced from December.