THE hard work starts today for York rail firm Grand Central, after the company was given the go-ahead to run rail services between the north-east and London.

Managing director Ian Yeowart said the company now had to negotiate deals for rolling stock, put forward its safety plans and deal with station access in the wake of the Office of Rail Regulation's (ORR) decision to allow Grand Central to run three services each way on the East Coast Main Line between Sunderland and the capital.

The Evening Press revealed yesterday how the ORR had confirmed its provisional decision to grant Grand Central track access rights, in a move which delighted the fledgling rail company's board.

It meant GNER's franchise commitment to run extra trains between Leeds and London was put on hold for the time being, while investigations continued with Network Rail to look at extra capacity - a decision which the Station Rise-based firm branded "staggering".

Mr Yeowart said the company would now begin the process of recruiting drivers and other essential personnel.

"Details will also be announced shortly of the company's management and shareholding structure," he said. "We have to put our licence package together, for the formal licence application as well as signing-off our safety case. The hard work starts today.

"This process, since the provisional decision, has taken two months, but we are still on track. We hope to start running services at the back end of this year if possible.

"We are going to be reasonably priced but, as we have said, we are not always going to be the cheapest. For those who book with us, we will make arrangements for passengers to be collected and delivered from home."

The ORR, in its decision, rejected a similar application from Grand Central to run services from Bradford and West Yorkshire to London.

But Mr Yeowart revealed those plans had not been forgotten, despite the regulator's decision.

He said: "It is time to move on, work with the industry to identify the additional paths required, and look at ways of adelivering the Bradford, Halifax and West Yorkshire services that cannot be accommodated at the moment."

GNER hits out at 'unfair' rail system

THE system allowing franchised and open access operators to be charged different rates to run services on the rail tracks needs to be changed, York-based GNER said today.

The Station-Rise based company said it was "reviewing the legal position" on the situation, following the ORR's decision to grant Grand Central track access rights on the East Coast Main Line - at the expense of its franchise commitment to run extra trains between Leeds and London.

GNER, who branded the ORR's decision "staggering", said Grand Central's business case was based on "revenue raiding from a premium-paying, publicly specified franchise".

Chief executive Christopher Garnett said: "The only way Grand Central can make money is by stopping at intermediate stations and taking revenue from franchised operators under an industry revenue allocation system, regardless of the quality of service they offer or how many passengers they attract.

"Competition is fine, but it should be on a level playing field. The present system is unfair and needs to be changed. It is staggering that the ORR has blocked the delivery of a key commitment in a Government-specified rail franchise."

Updated: 09:40 Friday, March 24, 2006