Covid kills Blackpool open access trains

Open access train operator Grand Central has abandoned its plan to launch services between Blackpool and London because of Covid-19. Grand Central, part of Arriva, said launching the services was no longer viable because of the economic uncertainty and changed travel patterns resulting from the virus. Richard McClean, Grand Central’s managing director, said: “So much effort has been put into these exciting plans to launch services that it is heart-breaking to have to abandon them at this point but the pandemic and its effect on our expansion plans have just proved too big an obstacle. Despite months of work to adjust our costs, and monitor travel behaviour for signs of change it became more obvious to us that to invest in what is essentially a start-up enterprise in this climate was simply not feasible. Therefore we reluctantly reached the very tough decision to cease the project permanently.”