Branson Reaches for the Stars … But Can’t Even Make It to Crewe

SIR Richard Branson declared yesterday that he expected to get members of the paying public into space within five years.

Meanwhile, on Planet Earth, the first of his fleet of tilting trains managed to get only 25 miles out of Glasgow on its inaugural journey from the city before suffering a mechanical fault.

Only an hour after Sir Richard launched his Virgin Galactic project to develop the world’s first passenger-carrying spaceship, the Pendolino train to London – named Royal Scot – which had been ceremoniously piped off from Glasgow Central station, developed a fault.

A worn wheel triggered track-side alarms, forcing the GBP 11 million train to slow to 50mph, and it was taken out of service when it reached Carlisle. The 85 passengers were forced to change trains and arrived in London two hours late.

The embarrassing glitch, which Virgin described as “highly unusual”, came before the train was able to tilt for the first time and accelerate to the line’s new 125mph speed limit.

Yesterday should have marked the biggest improvement to Glasgow- London services since the line was electrified 30 years ago, with the Royal Scot due to complete the trip in four hours 41 minutes – 30 minutes faster than before. Trains can tilt and run at 125mph only south of Crewe, because work on the northern half of the line will not be completed until the end of next year.

However, for some passengers, already upset by the cramped conditions on the new trains, yesterday’s incident was the final straw.

Alex McPhee, an engineer, said: “I’m not happy – all this new technology is going into service before the problems have been ironed out.”

Mr McPhee, who was returning to Sussex with his wife, Susan, after a week’s holiday in the Highlands, went on: “The train staff could not have done more, but the accommodation is inadequate, especially space for luggage, and there is certainly no advance in comfort.”

A Virgin spokesman said: “It could have happened on any train and it is just one of those things.”

The Pendolino incident came just one hour after what should have been a publicity coup to eclipse all others. Sir Richard revealed that Virgin Group had entered into an agreement to licence the technology to develop the world’s first privately funded spaceships dedicated to carrying commercial passengers.

In a GBP 14 million deal with Mojave Space Ventures (MAV), the company which built the world’s first privately funded, reusable space vehicle, the deal could see the first passengers taking out- of-this-world flights as soon as 2007.

Prices for each seat are expected to start at GBP 115,000, including three days’ flight training, and Virgin expects to create about 3,000 new astronauts within five years.

Announcing the launch of Virgin Galactic at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London, Sir Richard said: “We hope to create thousands of astronauts over the next few years and bring alive their dream of seeing the majestic beauty of our planet from above, the stars in all their glory and the amazing sensation of weightlessness. The development will also allow every country in the world to have their own astronauts, rather than the privileged few.”

The technology was originally developed by Paul Allen, of MAV, to fulfil his vision of building the world’s first privately funded, reusable space vehicle, called SpaceShipOne. Having successfully flown to a height of 62 miles above the Earth in June, SpaceShipOne will try to break out of the planet’s atmosphere again tomorrow, followed by a repeat flight in early October, as part of an attempt to win the Ansari X Prize.

The Ansari is a dollars 10 million award to jump-start the space tourism industry through competition. It will be awarded to the first team that privately finances, builds and launches a spaceship able to carry three people to 100 km (62.5 miles).

The craft must also return safely to Earth and repeat the launch within two weeks. All the prize money has been awarded by private donors.

Mr Allen said: “I backed the development of SpaceShipOne because I saw this as a great opportunity to demonstrate that space exploration could some day be within reach of private citizens. Today’s deal with Virgin represents the next stage in the evolution of the SpaceShipOne concept, and will likely be the first of a number of deals that will utilise the technology developed during its creation.”

It is expected that Virgin Galactic will formally begin the contractual and design phase of the project after the conclusion of the Ansari X Prize, and start constructing its first spaceship, the VSS Enterprise, next year.