Grand Union (Alliance Trains) has re-submitted an application using new build Hitachi trains to commence operations in December 2029. The application is currently out to industry consultation with a formal submission to the ORR planned for early 2026.
The service will offer almost two million additional seats annually on this important cross-country route while also linking Wales, England and Scotland with a regular daily service of 5 trains per day, with additional trains to and from Doncaster at the beginning and end of each day. It will create many frequent new and direct journey opportunities, particularly between Scotland and the northeast of England to Wales.
Services are planned to use new build bi/tri-mode Hitachi trains with each train having 7 coaches offering around 500 seats. The cross country rail route is exceptionally busy on many corridors, resulting in over crowding on many trains which prices and crowds potential passengers off services. An order for new trains would further secure the future of the Hitachi Newton Aycliffe factory, currently building trains for open access operators Grand Central and Lumo.
If approved, this application will pay the full infrastructure cost charge (ICC) for the whole route from Cardiff to Edinburgh, bringing additional annual income to Network Rail of over £10m per annum at 2026 prices. Private investment in the train fleet and maintenance, along with staff and other operational costs over the same period, if approved, this service would be investing over £800m into the UK rail system during its 10 year access period.
Network Rail is currently developing a capacity enhancement plan for the ECML having recently declared parts of the ECML congested. The ICC paid by Alliance over the life of its applied for 10 year contract would be close to the initial cost estimates from Network Rail for infrastructure work that would create further capacity between Northallerton and Newcastle. Alliance would join and leave the ECML at Doncaster. Only open access operators pay this additional charge. If CrossCountry Trains (XC) or GBR were to operate additional services this ICC would not be paid, while the cost of the additional trains required would fall to the taxpayer.
The Route
The service is applied for under the ‘Alliance’ banner, and the trains will start at Cardiff Central then call at Newport, Severn Tunnel Junction, Gloucester, Birmingham New Street, Derby, Sheffield, Doncaster, York and Newcastle before continuing on to Edinburgh Waverley. The stopping pattern is to reflect the ‘inter-city’ nature of the service, alleviating pressure on other services with more stops, and offering an overall significant increase in passenger carrying capacity.
Draft indicative 2029 timetable (Mon-Sat)
CARDIFF – EDINBURGH (Mon-Sat)
Cardiff Central — 06:15 08:15 11:15 14:15 16:15 18:15
Newport — 06:27 08:27 11:27 14:27 16:27 18:27
Severn Tunnel Junction — 06:38 08:38 11:38 14:38 16:38 18:40
Gloucester — 07:13 09:13 12:13 15:14 17:13 19:14
Birmingham New Street arr — 08:19 10:16 13:16 16:16 18:16 20:16
dep — 08:26 10:26 13:26 16:26 18:26 20:26
Derby — 08:57 10:57 13:57 16:57 18:57 20:57
Sheffield — 09:28 11:28 14:28 17:28 19:28 21:28
Doncaster 06:53 09:53 11:53 14:53 17:53 19:53 21:53
York 07:18 10:18 12:18 15:18 18:18 20:18 —
Newcastle Central 08:15 11:15 13:15 16:15 19:15 21:15 —
Edinburgh Waverley 09:42 12:42 14:42 17:42 20:42 22:42 —
EDINBURGH – CARDIFF (Mon – Sat)
Edinburgh Waverley — 08:27 10:27 13:27 15:27 18:27 21:27
Newcastle Central — 09:55 11:55 14:55 16:55 19:55 22:53
York — 10:51 12:51 15:51 17:51 20:51 23:45
Doncaster 06:16 11:16 13:16 16:16 18:16 21:16 00:10
Sheffield 06:51 11:50 13:50 16:50 18:50 21:50 —
Derby 07:22 12:22 14:22 17:22 19:22 22:22 —
Birmingham New Street arr 07:57 12:57 14:57 17:57 19:57 22:57 —
dep 08:08 13:08 15:08 18:08 20:08 23:08 —
Gloucester 08:55 13:55 15:55 18:55 20:55 23:55 —
Severn Tunnel Junction 09:25 14:25 16:25 19:25 21:25 00:25 —
Newport 09:40 14:40 16:40 19:40 21:40 00:40 —
Cardiff Central 09:55 14:55 16:55 19:55 21:55 00:55 —
Working Local
Stakeholders have regularly identified the lack of connectivity, the lack of seating and the high ticket prices on this route. This new service will also bring significant full-time direct employment to a number of areas on the route as well as in maintenance and outsourced service support . The operation is planned to be based at Doncaster with out-bases at Cardiff and Edinburgh.
All Aboard for a Relaxing Experience
We aim to provide the very best on-board experience – where we value every single customer and offer a good choice of catering and refreshments regardless of ticket price.
Our comfortable trains will be configured to our specification to provide much better seats, with more space and leg-room for passengers compared to other train operators, with good space for luggage. Trains are planned to be formed of 7 coaches.
All our journeys will have a full complement of safety-trained staff onboard, so passengers can be confident their service is as safe as possible.
A Fair Price
We believe train travel should be affordable and accessible for everyone. We will aim to provide the best possible value for money on ticketing, attracting passengers who currently cannot afford rail travel or are crowded off services due to overcrowding.
As well as selling advance tickets, passengers will also be able to buy tickets on the train, with prices significantly below the inter-available fare. Passengers will also be able to use railcards for on-train ticket purchase.
Our Seat Guarantee
Passengers rightly expect to receive a seat – and a seat will be part of the ticket price for all journeys over 30 minutes. If we cannot provide a seat on a particular journey, we will refund a standing passenger 50% of their ticket price for that journey, or if they buy a ticket onboard, discount their ticket at the time of purchase.