Virgin Trains has led a major transformation of the rail industry over the past ten years. It was the first privatised train operator to order and introduce two completely new train fleets.
In just a decade Virgin introduced high-tech, high-quality and high-comfort Pendolino and Voyager trains on to both the West Coast and CrossCountry networks. The result was improved performance, a massive increase in passenger numbers and reduced journey times.
The use of the new trains allowed Virgin to compete head-to-head with domestic airlines for the very first time. Rail now has the market share of the Manchester air/rail market and has seen off air competition on the Liverpool-London route. Passengers have voted with their feet and over 21 million passenger journeys a year are made on Virgin Trains’ services in 2008.
Virgin Trains Chief Executive Officer Tony Collins said: “Introducing new technology and new trains onto the rail network has only been made possible by the huge commitment of all staff. The men and women who keep our train fleets running around the clock are a huge asset to us.”
Exciting times ahead
Virgin Trains strives to be different and is not afraid to challenge. One recent success has been to launch the West Coast Replacement Shuttle train service, to provide a through train service between the West Midlands and London Euston via the Chiltern Route. This uses a route not normally used by Virgin and went from idea to reality in under 12 weeks through a partnership approach involving Chiltern Railways, freight operator EWS, Network Rail and Bombardier.
The massive amount of engineering work on the West Coast Main Line, which is evident to all rail users, is in preparation for the biggest change in train services over the route since electrification of the route in the 1960s.
Completion of the bulk of the route upgrade work at the end of the year will enable Virgin Trains to introduce its VHF (Virgin High Frequency) timetable. On weekdays this will bring a commuter-frequency train service to the London-Birmingham and London to Manchester routes with a train every 20 minutes. A new hourly London-Chester service will be introduced; more peak trains on the Liverpool-London route and more through trains on the London to Glasgow route. A new morning peak service from Wrexham to London Euston will also be introduced, returning in the evening from London.
Journey time from London to Manchester, Liverpool or Chester will be around two hours; to Birmingham under one and a quarter hours and to Glasgow around four hours. In total the new timetable will see the number of Virgin train services increase by around 32% and will provide around an additional 13 million seats a year. Longer term we will move to a truly seven day a week timetable, with the weekday off-peak service frequency operating on weekends too.
For more information on Virgin Trains, please see www.virgintrains.co.uk
