GO-OP TRAIN
Developments on the mainline projects
Our flagship Mainline Rail project is the Westbury to Birmingham Moor Street service. We have now developed a plan for a clockface timetable using brand new rolling stock that will enable us to exceed even our own expectations for delivering a highly professional level of service.
The requirements of the service have been assessed by the Office of Rail Regulation and Network Rail, and we have received strong indications that we have met the requirements for:
• Putting in place a professional, experienced and broad-based management team
• Showing that the route will be able to operate profitably within four years
• Having a credible plan for recruitment and operations
• Setting up a £200,000 bond guarantee
• Confirming insurance cover for whole service
• Gaining commitment from a supplier to secure suitable rolling stock
• Preparing a detailed, industry-standard operating procedure
• Commissioning detailed modeling to confirm that there is capacity on the intended route
Development of ultra light rail/local services
GO-OP’s Ultra Light Rail project continues to show progress. We have evaluated likely demand for the service and have high confidence of profitability in several locations. We’ve also received several approaches from interested partners and are currently investigating all opportunities. At present, we are still unable to confirm access to any of the potential routes under consideration and so this is a major priority for action.
In particular, technical issues affecting the lightweight railcar intended for the GO-OP Mid Hants Link service and the subsequent delay to the scheduled pilot earlier this year have meant that we have been unable to fix a date to reschedule the resumption of the trial.
Collaboration is key to the success of this project and we would welcome approaches from partners who can facilitate access to local lines to continue with trials of the Ultra Light Rail service. Please contact info@go-op.coop to discuss further.
