Vintage Trains Limited has announced that they have been granted its passenger charter licence by the Office of Rail and Road.This means that they have become the first ever Train Operating Company to be owned by the public and charitably controlled.
In their business plan, Vintage Trains wants to upgrade the standard of their fleet of carriages as well as building a new engine shed to house their locomotive fleet. The share issue has been extended until 31st December 2018 with the hope of raising £2.2 million.
World-class leadership
On top of all this, Vintage Trains Limited is led by stalwarts in the rail industry – Adrian Shooter as chairman and Cath Bellamy as Managing Director. Mr. Shooter joined British Rail in the 1970s before heading up the M40 Trains Management, which would become today’s Chiltern Railways. He is currently at the head of Vivarail, who are bringing groundbreaking Class 230 trains to Britain.
Miss Bellamy was Managing Director of Chiltern Railways until 2007 where she went on to run open access operator, Hull Trains.
Apprenticeship programme
At the heart of the operations is to keep skills alive. Over the years, Tyseley has collected a large amount of machinery to keep the wheels turning and the pistons pumping. To help keep the trains moving, Vintage Trains Limited will create a new apprentice training programme.
Source: www.railadvent.co.uk