Posted 1st July 2020 | No Comments

Open access operator Grand Central announces ‘measured’ restart

TRAINS run by open access operator Grand Central will start to return from 26 July, with two daily services between London and Bradford and three between London and Sunderland. Grand Central, along with Hull Trains, had been forced to suspend its operations at the start of April after rescue talks with the Department for Transport had failed. GC managing director Richard McClean said: ‘In late March it became obvious to us we couldnt operate a viable rail service under the Governments lockdown rules. Social distancing and a ban on non-essential travel meant we had no option but to put our trains to bed and place the majority of our staff on furlough. Since that decision we have worked hard to plan every aspect of a safe, sustainable return and we can now see that the lockdown has eased to such a degree for us to begin a measured return to service from late July.’