Plans for First Rail’s latest open access venture – a new high-quality, low cost direct service linking Edinburgh, the north-east and London – continue to gather pace, with the announcement of senior appointments to the team, and new trains arriving in the UK.
The service, planned for launch in October 2021, aims to tempt travellers between the two capitals away from unsustainable planes and into electric trains with great value fares.
Helen Wylde has been appointed as Managing Director with Matthew Lee appointed as Commercial and Customer Experience Director.
Also, the first of the new Hitachi five-car, electric fleet which First Rail has procured to operate this service has arrived in Britain, for assembly at the manufacturer’s facility at Newton Aycliffe.
A former Customer Marketing Director at Lloyds TSB General Insurance and Sales & Marketing Director at Parcelforce, Helen Wylde joins the business having most recently been Chief Engagement Officer at Connected Places Catapult. In that role, she was responsible for overseeing all elements of customer and stakeholder engagement, as well as delivery of high impact projects in the field of connected and autonomous transport and new mobility services.
Speaking about her new role, Helen said:
“Whilst all of us at FirstGroup are rightly focussed on Covid-19 and maintaining the essential transport networks which key workers rely on to do their jobs, we’re getting ready to work quickly to re-connect people and communities when the present restrictions on travel are over and the country emerges from the effects of the pandemic and begins to return to normal.
“It’s exciting to be joining First Rail to create a new rail service between Edinburgh, Newcastle and London. This new venture will combine high-quality customer experience with low fares to attract both business and leisure travellers away from planes and coaches and onto our trains.
“We have an exciting eighteen months ahead of us to bring the service to fruition, covering everything from the assembly of our new Hitachi trains in the northeast, manufacturing our specially designed seats for greater comfort and ease in Scotland, designing a digitised service, and meeting as many potential customers and stakeholders on the route as possible, so that we can hear first-hand what they believe would make our service great.
“It’s great to see the first of all-electric Hitachi trains arrive in the UK to be assembled by skilled British workers at their Newton Aycliffe factory. These trains will be at the cutting-edge of low-emission rail transport, underlining the benefits of using our service to travel between the two capital cities.
Matthew Lee, who originally joined FirstGroup as a graduate trainee before holding various operational management roles at Great Western Railway (GWR), joins from MTR Elizabeth line where held the title of Deputy Customer Experience Director.
Commenting, Matthew said:
“I'm delighted to have re-joined First Group to launch and operate this new, innovative and exciting service. We will be working with stakeholders and industry partners to make this a success and to grow the rail share of the market by delighting our customers.”
Five trains a day will operate each way from London King’s Cross to Edinburgh, serving Newcastle and Morpeth with more than 1.5m additional seats every year on brand new, state-of-the-art Hitachi class 803 trains.
Low fares will persuade passengers to make the switch to rail from coach or air travel, and business travellers will benefit from the first service of the day from London arriving in Edinburgh by 10:00, more than one hour earlier than is possible now.