Editing Brian Souter (section)

===Rail operations===

[[File:SouthWestTrains 444 at Wildenrath.jpg|thumb|[[South West Trains]] [[British Rail Class 444|Class 444]]]]

Shortly after Souter floated Stagecoach on the London Stock Exchange, he turned his attention to British railways. Initial experiments consisted of a Scotland to London service branded Stagecoach Rail with carriages attached to the ''[[Caledonian Sleeper]]''. During the [[privatisation of British Rail]], Stagecoach bid successfully to operate the [[South West Trains]] franchise from 1996 followed by the [[Island Line Trains]] later the same year. Stagecoach successfully bid to retain both when retendered in 2001 and 2006, before they passed to [[South Western Railway (2017-2025)|South Western Railway]] in 2017.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5369688.stm Stagecoach wins railway franchise] ''BBC News'' 22 September 2006</ref>

In 1998, Stagecoach purchased a 49% shareholding in [[Virgin Rail Group]] that operated the [[Virgin CrossCountry|CrossCountry]] and [[Virgin Trains West Coast|West Coast]] franchises.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/188052.stm "Virgin passengers get 'better deal'"] ''BBC News'' 7 October 1998</ref> In 2007, Stagecoach commenced operating the [[East Midlands Trains]] franchise.<ref>[http://www.stagecoach.com/media/news-releases/2007/2007-06-22.aspx Stagecoach Group welcomes East Midlands rail franchise win] Stagecoach Group 22 June 2007</ref> From April 2015 until June 2018, [[Virgin Trains East Coast]], in which Stagecoach held a 90% share, operated the [[InterCity East Coast]] franchise.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/business-30222458 Stagecoach and Virgin win East Coast mainline rail franchise] ''BBC News'' 27 November 2014</ref>