Vivarail has mastered the art of resuscitating old or retired aluminium trains to make new operational compartments but is currently facing a proprietary issue. The company has been found seeking new administrators to avoid dissolution.
Vivarail had its beginnings in the 2013s when founder Adrian Shooter was handed over a large collection of former District Line cars from Transport for London with the sole purpose of refurbishing their aluminium body shells and enhancing the coaches with the latest technology like batteries.
Some of these reinstated aluminium coaches are now in service at Southern Midlands, operating between Bedford and Bletchley, also along the Isle of Wight. These aluminium coaches are also being created for usual railway routes in North Wales and on the Greenford branch of the GWR. In fact, two of these reconstructed aluminium trains have been shipped to the United States.
In November 2021, Vivarail was also the proud presenter of a battery-driven unit that could be deemed as the first-ever electric train to travel through the Forth Bridge during COP26 in Glasgow.
Somehow, all the endeavours made by the company to attract funding have been outright disastrous, and some of the retired aluminium coaches already in the storehouse might be scrapped indefinitely.
The company made the first cry for help on 23 November, when it filed a formal petition or a Notice of Intent.
The Managing Director, Steve McBride, explained: ‘The Board and I have worked incredibly hard to secure new investment in recent months, and although we have been encouraged by the level of interest, time is now against us to allow potential investors to step in. Combined with slow market conditions and delays in reaching certain key commercial arrangements, we have had no choice but to file a Notice of Intention to appoint Administrators with the Courts.
‘The next few weeks undoubtedly represent a degree of uncertainty for everyone connected to Vivarail, including our 70 employees who have shown incredible commitment and dedication to decarbonising our railway. During this time, management, the board of directors and our advisors will leave no stone unturned in finding a solution,” he seemed extremely affirmative about the course of their future actions.
‘We will now be consulting with our customers and other stakeholders to try and drive the business forwards, but we must be realistic in that if we are unable to deliver a rescue package, Administration will, unfortunately, be inevitable,” Steve McBride concluded.
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