The Chronicle

January 16, 2004

HEADLINE: Rival for Branson Plans to Run His Own Train to London

BYLINE: By James Jackson

Move over Sir Richard Branson. Lower Withington train enthusiast Steve Howard is trying to beat the Virgin boss at his own game by running a cut-price rail service to London via Congleton.

Mr Howard is disgusted that Virgin can charge £290 for a first class return ticket between Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston and is prepared to fork out £21,000 from his own pocket to charter a locomotive and 12 carriages.

And the cost of a return trip to the capital on the Howard Express, if he can fill the train, can be just £65 first class.

Mr Howard, who travels up and down the country’s railways, said: Richard Branson is taking the Mickey out of everyone with his ticket prices. We’ve got to put him in his place. He’s gone off the rails with his prices."

Mr Howard, of Salter Lane, who describes himself as an entrepreneur, plans to charter the train from English, Welsh and Scottish Railway, one of Britain’s leading rail freight companies, which is also in the charter train market.

The company has confirmed that he has been in touch with them with a view to chartering a train and it is in the process of providing a quote.

He plans to run the service on Saturday, 24^th March, leaving Manchester Piccadilly at 7:30am and calling at Stockport, Poynton, Macclesfield, Congleton, Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford, arriving in London Euston at 11:15am. The return journey would leave at 7pm.

Mr Howard, who runs a chimney sweeping business and runs landscaping services, hopes the charter train, which can take up to 500 passengers, will be the first of many.

"If it is a success, I hope to charter a weekly service each Saturday and possibly during the week as well," he said.

He plans to sell the tickets himself, and even the catering will be a local enterprise. Mr Howard has already asked Goostrey post office if they can rustle up 500 sandwiches.

Post office owner Steve Cliffe said: "We make up sandwiches for customers but we’ve never made as many as this.

"He mentioned that there could be 500 people on the train, so we would have to call in some of our extra ladies to start buttering loads of bread. It’s certainly a good order for us and will be a nice challenge."

When he is not ‘buying’ train services, Mr Howard invests his money into vintage fire engines.

He has spent £5000 on a 1969 H.C.B.-Angus water tender from a friend who was moving to South Africa.

He plans to convert the five-ton tender into a mobile disco complete with 1,000-watt speakers and £1000 worth of lights.

GRAPHIC: Platform to success? Mr Howard plans to run his own train from London to Congleton.