Platinum Trains was a proposed open access operator that intended to run limited-stop train services from Scotland to London via the

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between its northern terminus at and southern terminus at . The key towns and cities of , , , , and are on the line. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Grea ...

. Its plan was to compete with air travel. The company proposed to use two Class 180 units to operate two outbound and return journeys per day on weekdays and one outbound and return per day at weekends between

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

and London King's Cross, calling at

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

. The company anticipated placing an order for new rolling stock in the first year of operation with introduction into service in the third or fourth year. In February 2009, the application to operate trains was denied by the Office of Rail Regulation, along with that of First Harrogate Trains. Difficulties had been highlighted in finding additional paths for the trains to operate in along the busy East Coast Main Line. In a letter from the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport ...

to the Office of Rail Regulation in January 2009, it was noted that "the Platinum Trains proposal does not appear to be compatible with Transport Scotland’s franchised service specification between Aberdeen and Edinburgh, and we find it difficult to see how a non-stop path could be achieved south of Edinburgh without use of excessive pathing time which could present operational difficulties due to persistent early running."

References

{{Reflist Open-access train operating companies