European Railroad Discussion > Virgin East Coast

I love the Virgin Trains East Coast livery. So, here's one at Ryther on the east coast main line south of York. A storm is clearing across the Vale of York, making the livery stand out very well. Heading south fro Edinburgh, a Driving Van Trailer leads. Chris uk.

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Chris

Could you explain the relartionship between Virgin East Coast and the older Virgin operation out of Euston. My understanding is that the east coast virign is only partlally owned by Virgin. Also where did the Virgin East Coast equipment come from-- from the previous operators of the east coast franchise or Virgin's equipment displaced by its new Pendolino trainsets?

Thanks for indulging me with these questions.

WP17

Both East and West Coast are joint ventures between Virgin Group and Stagecoach, who also operate SWT and EMT in their own right. They are the majority shareholder.

The equipment was inherited from the predecessor operator, Directly Operated Railways, which was set up by the Dept of Transport when National Express pulled out. By and large the franchisee owns nothing, they lease stock from Rolling Stock Companies (ROSCOs).

A further important difference bewteen the East and West Coast operations is that Virgin are only a 10% partner on the East Coast - Stagecoach are effectively the operator with Virgin simply used as branding. A triumph of form over content!