One of the final movements for Grand Central's Class 90s and Mk4s was on August 7 when Nos. 90026 and 90020 hauled two Grand Central Mk4s sets from Alstom Widnes to Wembley Inter City Depot. They are are seen passing Cheddington. The locos will be absorbed back into the DB Cargo fleet, but the future of the carriages is uncertain.
KEN BRUNT
OPEN access operator Grand Central (GC) has abandoned its aspirations to start a Blackpool North-London Euston service completely, saying 'Covid-19 has rendered plans unfeasible'.
The service was to have started in May, and prior to the coronavirus pandemic taking hold, two Mk4 carriage sets, DVTs and Class 90s, had been refurbished and painted and had started initial testing. Now the trains are surplus and employees who may be affected by the decision have been advised of the potential risk to jobs.
Richard McClean, managing director of Grand Central, said: "So much effort has been put into these exciting plans to launch services between London and Blackpool, that it is heartbreaking 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.
"Because Grand Central is an open access business, we receive no external financial help and we rely completely on what we generate in ticket sales.