PASSENGERS travelling on the East Coast Main Line will get their first glimpse of the franchise's new livery on Monday when a Virgin branded train completes its inaugural journey from London to Scotland.
The East Coast franchise makes its controversial move back to the private sector tomorrow when Inter-City Rail (ICR), a Stagecoach-Virgin consortium, will begin running services on the route.
Although Stagecoach is the majority stakeholder, the fleet will carry the Virgin brand and the eight-year franchise will operate as Virgin Trains East Coast.
Customers boarding trains north and south tomorrow, however, are unlikely to notice any visible difference in the rolling stock.
As a short-term fix, the new franchise holders plan to decorate the front and sides of as many East Coast trains as possible with the Virgin logo and distinctive red stripe as a "nod" to the new owners.
Wholescale rebranding of the fleet, inside and out, will be carried out gradually over the coming months.
However, train-spotters and passengers will get first sight of the design on Monday when the only fully liveried Virgin East Coast train pulls into Edinburgh Waverley after completing its inaugural journey from London.
The train is scheduled to depart King's Cross at 11am, calling at York, Darlington, Newcastle and Berwick-upon-Tweed before arriving in Scottish capital at 3.20pm.
David Horne, the managing director of Virgin Trains East Coast, will be among those on board, along with colleagues from the new operator's senior leadership team.
The Department for Transport has faced criticism over the decision to re-privatise the franchise. East Coast has been in state ownership since November 2009 after the then operator National Express attempted to buy itself out of the franchise, which was losing money and passengers.
Opponents say it has generated £1 billion for the exchequer over the last five years and should remain in public hands.
The new franchise-holders have already run into trouble with the industry's competition watchdog. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) warned there was a "realistic prospect" of higher fares or reduced service quality on sections of the route which overlap with existing Stagecoach-run services, such as the Edinburgh to Aberdeen tranche which is also covered by Citylink buses.
There has also been mounting disquiet from campaigners over the decision to replace the generous East Coast Rewards loyalty club with a Nectar points scheme that offers customers poorer value for money.
For its part, the Stagecoach-Virgin consortium have promised to cut journey times between London and Edinburgh to four hours from 2019 and invest £140m in improving the service.
During the first two years, the group has pledged to spend £13.4m revamping the existing train fleet, including a "deep clean" of the entire rolling stock, refurbished toilets, new carpets and seat covers, and new on-train signage.
Extra weekday services between Edinburgh and London are planned from May 2016, with half-hourly frequency for most of the day and an additional Sunday service
From 2018, it will introduce 65 new Super Express trains with free on-board WiFi and at seat meals for all passengers, along with an app that allows passengers to order a meal to their seat before or during the journey.
New timetables in May 2019 will see the launch of an express Edinburgh to London service on weekdays, calling only at Newcastle. At four hours, it will be 20 minutes quicker than the current fastest service between the two cities.
There will also be a 50 per cent increase in capacity across the franchise by 2020, taking the total number of seats to 12,200, along with the addition of 500 extra car parking spaces and 50 per cent more cycle storage along the route.
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