Virgin Trains

Virgin Trains

Overview
Franchise(s):	InterCity West Coast 9 March 1997 – April 2018
Main route(s):	London - Scotland London - North West London - West Midlands London - Chester
Other route(s):	London - Holyhead London - Shrewsbury London - Wrexham London - Blackpool
Fleet size:	56 Class 390 Pendolino sets 20 Class 221 Super Voyager sets
Stations called at:	42
Stations operated:	17
National Rail abbreviation:	VT
Parent company:	Virgin Rail Group, which is owned by both Virgin (51%) and Stagecoach (49%)
Website:	www.virgintrains.co.uk

Virgin Trains^[1] (legal name West Coast Trains Limited) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Virgin Rail Group (51%) and Stagecoach (49%) that has operated the InterCity West Coast franchise since 9 March 1997. Virgin Trains operates long-distance passenger services on the West Coast Main Line between London, West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and Scotland. The service connects six of the UK's largest cities; London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and Edinburgh, which have a combined metropolitan population of over 18 million people.

The Virgin Trains brand has also been used on the legally and operationally separate Virgin Trains East Coast since 1 March 2015, and previously on Virgin CrossCountry, which operated between 1997 and 2007.

History

Virgin Rail Group was awarded the InterCity West Coast franchise in January 1997 after beating Sea Containers and Stagecoach with operations commencing on 9 March 1997.^[2] In October 1998 Virgin Group sold 49% of the shares in Virgin Rail Group to Stagecoach.^[3]

When Virgin won the franchise, Railtrack was to upgrade the West Coast Main Line to allow tilting trains to operate at 140 mph by 2005. In the wake of the collapse of Railtrack and the inability of Network Rail to deliver on the 140 mph West Coast Main Line upgrade, both the Virgin CrossCountry and Virgin Trains West Coast franchises were suspended in favour of management contracts in July 2002.^[4] Due to costs having blown out from £2.5 billion to £10 billion there were cutbacks to the upgrade and the top speed reduced to 125 mph.^[5]

Services

Pendolino 390001 Virgin Pioneer at Watford Junction

Unidentified Class 221 Super Voyager at Llandudno Junction

A map showing the off-peak service pattern each hour, as of 2015

Standard Class aboard a Class 390 Pendolino

First Class aboard a Class 390 Pendolino

First Class aboard a Class 221 Super Voyager

In May 1998 Virgin introduced new services from London Euston to Shrewsbury and Blackpool North. The former ceased in 1999, the latter in May 2003.^[6][7] In December 2014, a daily weekday service between London Euston and Blackpool North and a twice daily service between London Euston and Shrewsbury were reintroduced.

In September 2004 a London Euston to Llandudno service was introduced ceasing in December 2008.^[8]

In September 2005 Virgin introduced its first 125 mph timetable following the completion of Stage 1 of the upgrade.

In December 2007 as part of a reshuffle of rail franchises by the Department for Transport, services from Birmingham New Street to Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central via Crewe were transferred from the CrossCountry franchise to the InterCity West Coast franchise.^[9]

In December 2008 a Wrexham to London Euston service was introduced operating south in the morning with an evening return.^[10][11]

In February 2009 an hourly London Euston to Chester service was introduced.^[12]

From January 2009 Virgin Trains gradually rolled out a new Very High Frequency timetable to take advantage of the completed West Coast Main Line upgrade.

There were many timetable changes from 8 December 2013. These resulted in new timetables. Edinburgh/Glasgow services now run to/from London and call at Sandwell & Dudley replacing the hourly Wolverhampton to Euston service.^[13] In addition most Liverpool services will additionally call at Crewe. This has resulted in the latter being serviced by four Virgin trains in each direction per hour to/from London instead of the previous two.

	Route	Calling at	Stock	Frequency
A	London Euston - Glasgow Central or Edinburgh Waverley via Birmingham New Street	Milton Keynes Central, Coventry, Birmingham International, Birmingham New Street, Sandwell and Dudley, Wolverhampton, Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme Lake District (1tp2h), Penrith (1tp2h), Carlisle, then either (Glasgow Central) or (Haymarket, Edinburgh Waverley). Trains call alternately at Oxenholme Lake District and Penrith. Before 1 pm, trains to Glasgow Central call at Penrith and trains to Edinburgh call at Oxenholme Lake District. After 1 pm, this is reversed.	Pendolino & Super Voyager	1tph
B	London Euston - Birmingham New Street	Watford Junction (1tph), Rugby (1tph), Coventry, Birmingham International Trains call alternately at Watford Junction and Rugby. Peak time services run to/from Wolverhampton. Two daily services run to/from Shrewsbury which are operated by Super Voyagers.	Pendolino & Super Voyager	2tph
C	London Euston - Chester, Bangor, Holyhead and Wrexham General	Milton Keynes Central, Crewe Certain trains are extended beyond Chester to/from Bangor (Gwynedd) or Holyhead. 1 train on Monday-Friday is extended to/from Wrexham General. 1 train on Monday-Friday runs between Bangor/Holyhead and Birmingham New Street.	Super Voyager	1tph
D	London Euston - Liverpool Lime Street	Stafford, Crewe, Runcorn.	Pendolino	1tph
E	London Euston - Manchester Piccadilly	Milton Keynes Central (1tph), (Stoke-on-Trent, Macclesfield (1tph) / Crewe, Wilmslow), Stockport 2tph run via Stoke-on-Trent and 1tph runs via Crewe. Trains via Stoke-on-Trent call alternately at Milton Keynes Central and Macclesfield. Off-peak trains via Crewe do not call at Milton Keynes Central.	Pendolino	3tph
F	London Euston - Glasgow Central	Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme Lake District (1tp2h), Penrith (1tp2h), Carlisle. Trains call alternately at Oxenholme Lake District and Penrith. One daily weekday service operates to/from Blackpool North which is operated by a Super Voyager. Additionally the 16:30 service between London Euston and Glasgow Central calls only at Preston.	Pendolino	1tph

Moderation of competition

As a way of protecting the revenues of Virgin Trains to enable it to pay franchise premiums to the government to partly recoup the cost of the West Coast Main Line upgrade, the Office of Rail Regulation inserted a Moderation of Competition in Virgin's Track Access Agreement. Until its expiry in March 2012, this prevented any other train operating or open access companies operating services in competition that would abstract revenue.^[14]

Passenger Numbers

Annual Passenger Numbers^[15]

Year	Passengers (millions)	Passenger % Change	Passenger-kilometre (millions)	Passenger-km % Change
2010–2011	28.9		5,698.8
2011–2012	30.2	4.5	5,923.0	3.9
2012–2013	30.4	0.7	5,958.4	0.6
2013-2014	31.9	4.9	6,215.4	4.3
2014-2015	34.5	8.2	6,887.9	10.8

Performance

Virgin Trains suffered poor punctuality compared with some other transport operators between 2001 and 2006, according to Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Punctuality did gradually improve until the introduction of a new timetable (in December 2008), following the upgrade of the West Coast Main Line, which resulted in a dip in performance.^[16] Performance subsequently recovered and peaked during 2010-2011, but then fell again and reached a new low for the year ending 31 March 2013 of 83.6% (MAA).^[17]

The PPM MAA (Public Performance Measure Moving Annual Average - % of trains arriving within 10 minutes of the scheduled times) figures for Virgin Trains are as follows:

• Financial year to 31 March 2002: 68.7%^[18]
• Financial year to 31 March 2003: 73.5%^[19]
• Financial year to 31 March 2004: 74.8%^[20]
• Financial year to 31 March 2005: 72.1%^[21]
• Financial year to 31 March 2006: 83.5%^[22]
• Financial year to 31 March 2007: 86.0%.^[23]
• Financial year to 31 March 2008: 86.2%.^[24]
• Financial year to 31 March 2009: 80.0%.^[25]
• Financial year to 31 March 2010: 84.6%.^[26]
• Financial year to 31 March 2011: 86.6%.^[27]
• Financial year to 31 March 2012: 85.9%.^[28]
• Financial year to 31 March 2013: 83.6%.^[17]
• Financial year to 31 March 2014: 85.8%.^[29]
• Financial year to 31 March 2015: 84.7%.^[29]

Latest figures published by Network Rail for the seventh period of 2013-2014 recorded PPM of 92.2% for the period and a MAA of 83.5% for the 12 months up to 12 October 2013.^[30] The PPM performance for the period is down 2.7 percentage points on the corresponding figure from the same period last year. Network Rail noted that Virgin Trains were only responsible for 16% of delays in period 5. Network Rail was itself directly responsible for 50% of Virgin Trains' delays, 20% were a result of external factors (e.g. fatalities) and the final 14% were due to other operators.

Chris Green as chief executive^[31][32] led a drive to improve reliability and punctuality after much press criticism in 2001, and by 2006, due to improved reliability of trains and completion of major infrastructure projects, performance was better. Virgin has undertaken a number of projects to increase punctuality, including radio-controlled watches.^[33]

Grayrigg derailment

On 23 February 2007 a Class 390 Pendolino forming the 17:15 London Euston to Glasgow Central service derailed in the village of Grayrigg in Cumbria.^[34] The train was carrying 109 people. Several carriages were left lying on the railway embankments. An elderly woman was killed in the derailment. Five people were seriously injured. The accident was caused by a faulty set of points and Network Rail accepted full responsibility.^[35] The train itself however was widely praised for the way it retained its structural integrity. Richard Branson also praised the train driver because he attempted to stop the train and did not get out of the cab before it derailed.

Rolling stock

A Class 221 Super Voyager at Rhyl, bound for Holyhead

Virgin inherited a fleet of Class 86, Class 87 and Class 90s hauling Mark 2 and Mark 3 carriages with Driving Van Trailers on its electrified services and High Speed Trains for London Euston to Holyhead services.

A franchise commitment was the replacement of these trains with new tilting stock. In 1999 Virgin signed a deal to lease forty-four eight-carriage and nine nine-carriage Class 390 Pendolinos built by Alstom.^[36] An option to extend all to nine carriages was enacted in 2002. The first entered service in January 2003. With the exception of services to Holyhead, the final locomotive hauled trains were withdrawn in June 2005.^[37]

To operate the Holyhead services four four-carriage Class 221 Super Voyagers were included in the order placed by Virgin CrossCountry. By the time they were delivered it was decided these would be too short so they entered service with Virgin CrossCountry. In September 2004 the High Speed Trains were withdrawn with services being operated by a combination of five-carriage Class 221 Super Voyagers hired from Virgin CrossCountry and Class 47 and Class 90 hauled Mark 3 sets. From September 2005 Class 57/3s hauling Class 390 Pendolinos took over the locomotive hauled diagrams. This continued until December 2008 when five-carriage Class 221 Super Voyagers took over all services.

With the Class 390 Pendolinos needing modification in 2006, a First GBRf Class 87 was hired to haul a Mark 3 set on Birmingham New Street services.^[38]

To operate the Birmingham to Edinburgh and Glasgow services transferred from CrossCountry in December 2007, three four-carriage and thirteen five-carriage Class 221 Super Voyagers were transferred. A further five five-carriage Class 221 Super Voyagers followed in December 2008.^[39]

In August 2008 Bombardier started a programme to rearrange the Class 221 Super Voyagers with the carriage containing the shop moved to adjoin the first class carriage and refurbished with 2+2 seats arranged more spaciously around tables. This allowed it to be used as a first class carriage on Holyhead services and as a standard class carriage at other times.^[40][41]

In December 2010 one four-carriage Class 221 Super Voyager was disbanded with the two centre carriages being inserted into the other four-carriage sets to give Virgin a fleet of twenty five-carriage Class 221 Super Voyagers.^[42] The two end carriages are stored at Central Rivers depot.

To provide it with a fleet of locomotives for use on diversionary services during the West Coast Mainline upgrade and rescue duties, Virgin signed a deal with Porterbrook in March 2002 to rebuild twelve Class 47s as Class 57/3s with the first delivered in June 2002.^[43] After it was decided they would operate daily services along the North Wales Coast to Holyhead, another four were ordered from Porterbrook.^[44] Following the completion of the West Coast Main Line upgrade in 2008 their use fell and after being sublet to Arriva Trains Wales, Colas Rail and First GBRf, six were returned to Porterbrook in August 2011,^[45] three in April 2012^[46] and the remaining seven in December 2012.

Virgin had long been angling for a franchise extension in return for ordering extra carriages for the Class 390 Pendolinos. The Department for Transport rejected this and instead placed an order itself with Alstom for 106 carriages allowing for four complete eleven-carriage sets and 31 sets to be extended by two carriages.^[47][48] There was an option to extend the remaining 21 sets but this was allowed to lapse. The four new sets were delivered in 2010/12 while 31 sets are currently receiving extra carriages with all to be complete by December 2012. This has required a number of stations to have platforms lengthened.

Following the loss of a Class 390 Pendolino in the Grayrigg derailment, a Mark 3 set with a Driving Van Trailer was leased with a Class 90 hired from English Welsh & Scottish as required. In 2008 Virgin looked at leasing two Class 180^[49] but decided to retain the Mark 3 set. Nicknamed the Pretendolino, this received re-upholstered seating, power points, wi-fi and a full external re-paint at Wabtec, Doncaster in 2009.^[50] Virgin used this set with a Class 90 locomotive hired from Freightliner on a Euston to Crewe (via Birmingham) service on Fridays only until December 2012. From 9 December 2013 it was utilised to operate a London Euston -Birmingham New Street train on Thursdays and Fridays only, until its withdrawal in October 2014. The Mk.III set was also occasionally hired out as a private charter train. It was used in the filming of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and can be seen at King's Cross station at the end of the film. It is currently in use as a 'hot spare' with Abellio Greater Anglia.

All seats on Class 221 Super Voyagers and Class 390 Pendolinos originally had an on-board audio entertainment system featuring a number of radio or pre-recorded music channels. This was disabled in March 2010^[51][52] and replaced with on-board WiFi provided by EE.^[53][54] The service is available free in first class, and for a charge (which varies depending on how long the passenger wishes to use it for) in standard class.^[55]

On 15 September 2015 it was announced that Virgin Trains were to rename Pendolino 390002 in memory of teenage fundraiser Stephen Sutton.^[56]

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Built	Notes
			mph	km/h
Class 221 Super Voyager		DEMU	125	200	20[57]	2001–2002	221142–221144 originally four-car sets; 221144 was disbanded December 2010, with centre cars inserted in 221142 & 221143 and driving cars stored at Central Rivers depot.
Class 390 Pendolino		EMU	125	200	56	2001–2004 2009–2012	390033 stored and partially scrapped after Grayrigg derailment. Pendolino (from Italian Pendolo) refers to tilting trains.

Past fleet

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Built	Withdrawn	Notes
			mph	km/h
Class 43		Diesel-electric locomotive	125	200	1975-1982	2003	Went into store, now operated by CrossCountry, East Midlands Trains, Grand Central, Great Western Railway, Network Rail & Virgin Trains East Coast
Class 47/8		Diesel-electric locomotive	95	153	1962-1968 (converted into 47/8 1989)	2002	Originally hauled Virgin CrossCountry services, retained for Thunderbird duties & Crewe to Holyhead services replaced by Class 57/3s
Class 57/3		Diesel-electric locomotive	95	153	1998-2004	2012	Thunderbird locomotive (re-built from Class 47s), previously used to haul Pendolinos on Crewe to Holyhead services until all services to Holyhead until replaced by Voyagers, transferred to Network Rail, Direct Rail Services and West Coast Railway Company
Class 86		Electric Locomotive	100	161	1965-1966	2003	Replaced by Class 390, some exported to Floyd Zrt., Hungary, 86259 owned by Les Ross & preserved by West Coast Railways
Class 87		Electric Locomotive	110	177	1973-1975	2005	Replaced by Class 390, although withdrawals slower than expected due to problems with the newer trains, most exported to Bulgaria, 3 preserved (87001, 87002, 87035)
Class 90		Electric Locomotive	110	177	1987-1990	2004	Replaced by Class 390, transferred to one
Class 220 Voyager		DEMU	125	200	2000-2002	2007	Transferred from Virgin CrossCountry to Arriva CrossCountry upon change of franchise
Mark 2 Coach		Passenger Carriage	100	160	1964-1975	2003	Preserved, scrapped or exported to New Zealand
Mark 3 Carriage		Passenger Carriage	125	200	1975–1986	2005	Replaced by Class 390 and Class 221, loco-hauled carriages transferred to one, HST carriages now used by CrossCountry, East Midlands Trains, Grand Central, Great Western Railway & Virgin Trains East Coast
		Driving Van Trailer	110	177	1988	2005	Replaced by Class 390, transferred to one
Mark 3 Pretendolino[58]		Passenger carriage	110	177	1975–1986	2014	Charter Train & Spare Train, was refurbished in 2009, formed of 5 TSO, 1 RFM, 3 FOs & DVT 82126, transferred to Abellio Greater Anglia.
		Driving Van Trailer	110	177	1988	2014

Depots

The Class 390 fleet is allocated to the Alstom Traincare Centre at Longsight with lighter maintenance and overnight servicing carried out at Wembley, Oxley, Edge Hill and Polmadie depots. The Class 221 fleet is allocated to Bombardier's Central Rivers depot with lighter maintenance and overnight servicing carried out at Arriva TrainCare, Crewe, Holyhead and Polmadie.

Future franchising arrangements

Virgin Trains's franchise was due to expire in March 2012. In 2009 Richard Branson launched a campaign to have the next franchise period extended for 20 to 30 years, so that Virgin would be able to spend more on infrastructure and be able to see a return on investment.^[59] Branson said the journey time between London and Birmingham could be reduced by 22 minutes to under one hour. This was turned down by the Department for Transport. Virgin had applied for a two-year extension but this was ruled out by the Department of Transport on legal grounds.^[60]

In January 2011 the Department for Transport called for expressions of interest in bidding for the next InterCity West Coast franchise.^[61] In March 2011 the Department for Transport announced that Abellio, FirstGroup, Keolis/SNCF and Virgin Rail Group had been shortlisted to bid for the franchise.^[62] In May 2011 the Secretary of State announced the end date had been postponed to allow the recommendations in the McNulty Report to be absorbed.^[63] In October 2011 the Department for Transport announced that Virgin had been granted a franchise extension until December 2012.^[64]

The Invitation to Tender was issued to the shortlisted bidders in January 2012^[65] with the Department for Transport awarding FirstGroup the new franchise in August 2012.^[66]

In October 2012 the Secretary of State for Transport announced the government was cancelling the franchise competition for the InterCity West Coast franchise after discovering significant technical flaws in the way the franchise process was conducted, reversing the decision to award it to FirstGroup. Following an independent review of the franchising process, a fresh competition will be held.^[67] The government announced it would negotiate with Virgin Trains to run the InterCity West Coast franchise for a further 9 to 13 months.^[68][69] In December 2012 Virgin was awarded a 23-month management contract to run the franchise until 9 November 2014.^[70][71]

In March 2013 the Secretary of State for Transport announced the franchise would again be extended until 31 March 2017.^[72]

In July 2013 the Office of Rail Regulation rejected an application by Virgin Trains to operate new services to Shrewsbury and Blackpool North, citing capacity constraints on the West Coast Main Line.^[73] In November 2013 a revised application for services to Shrewsbury and Blackpool North was approved with services and commenced in December 2014.^[74]

In 2015, the franchise was further extended until April 2018.^[75]

Sponsorship

Virgin Trains were Carlisle United F.C.'s travel sponsor for the 2013–14 season, and for the 2014–15 season they are the club's main shirt sponsor agreeing a further two-year deal.^[76] On 5 August 2014 Virgin Trains also agreed to be the shirt sponsor of Preston North End F.C. on a two-year deal.^[77] Virgin Trains has also sponsored events such as Manchester International Festival in 2013.^[78]

See also

• List of companies operating trains in the United Kingdom
• National Rail
• Rail franchising in Great Britain
• Rail transport in Great Britain

References

1. Companies House extract company no 3007940 West Coast Trains Limited
2. Virgin pledges tilt trains for West Coast The Independent 31 January 1997
3. Virgin passengers get 'better deal' BBC News 7 October 1998
4. Supplementary memorandum by the Strategic Rail Authority House of Commons Publications 22 July 2002
5. West Coast railway upgrade under threat The Telegraph 24 July 2003
6. Pride of Shrewsbury The Encyclopedia of Modern Traction Names
7. Rail Magazine Issue 462 28 May 2003 Page 14
8. Virgin Trains Restore London to Llandudno Daily Service greatorme.org.uk
9. New Cross Country Franchise Consultation Document Department for Transport June 2006
10. Wrexham joins the Virgin network Virgin Trains Press Release 15 December 2008
11. Rail Magazine Issue 586 27 February 2008 Page 11
12. Roman legionnaires swap chariots for trains Virgin Trains Press Release 16 February 2009
13. Virgin Trains boosts Birmingham - Scotland services Business Traveller 29 May 2013
14. Model Clauses for Track Access Agreements: Access Rights and Moderation of Competition Office of the Rail Regulator June 2001
15. "Virgin Trains West Coast". Office of Rail and Road. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
16. BBC. "'Glitch' on West Coast main line". BBC.
17. "Rail performance results period 13". Network Rail.
18. "National Rail Trends 2001-2002 Quarter Four" (PDF). Strategic Rail Authority.
19. "National Rail Trends 2002-2003 Quarter Four" (PDF). Strategic Rail Authority.
20. "National Rail Trends 2003-2004 Quarter Four" (PDF). Strategic Rail Authority.
21. "National Rail Trends 2004-2005 Quarter Four" (PDF). Strategic Rail Authority.
22. "National Rail Trends 2005-2006 Quarter Four" (PDF). Office of Rail Regulation.
23. "National Rail Trends 2006-2007 Quarter Four" (PDF). Office of Rail Regulation.
24. "National Rail Trends 2007-2008 Quarter Four" (PDF). Office of Rail Regulation.
25. "National Rail Trends 2008-2009 Quarter Four" (PDF). Office of Rail Regulation.
26. "National Rail Trends 2009-2010 Quarter Four" (PDF). Office of Rail Regulation.
27. "National Rail Trends 2010-2011 Quarter Four" (PDF). Office of Rail Regulation.
28. "National Rail Trends 2011-2012 Quarter Four". Office of Rail Regulation.
29. "Virgin Trains West Coast - Table 2.20".
30. "Rail performance results period 7". Network Rail.
31. Thornton, Philip (17 February 1999). "The Player: Chris Green, Chief Executive of Virgin Rail: Right man to tackle 'mission impossible'". The Independent (London). Retrieved 6 June 2009.
32. Balmforth, John (2007). Virgin Trains: a decade of progress. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-3224-8.
33. "Virgin Trains goes Atomic" (Press release). Virgin Trains. 28 February 2006.
34. "Train crashes in Lake District". BBC News Online. 23 February 2007. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
35. "Rail crash report blames points". BBC News Online. 26 February 2007.
36. From Dream to Reality The Locomotive & Carriage Institutiion 8 November 2002
37. Rail Magazine Issue 516 22 June 2005 Page 6
38. Class 87 - History The AC Locomotive Group
39. Rail Magazine Issue 575 26 September 2007 Page 16
40. Rail Magazine Issue 600 10 September 2008 Page 70
41. "Super Voyager fleet refreshed - early" (Press release). Virgin Trains. 13 February 2009.
42. Virgin to eliminate four-car Super Voyagers Rail-News 16 November 2010
43. Rail Magazine Issue 433 17 April 2002 Page 17
44. Rail Magazine Issue 468 20 August 2003 Page 62
45. 57 Locomotive leased to Network Rail Porterbrook Leasing News 10 October 2011
46. Porterbrook has reached an agreement with Direct Rail Services for the lease of three Class 57 locomotives Porterbrook Leasing News 4 April 2012
47. Rail Magazine Issue 584 30 January 2008 Page 14
48. Virgin Rail Group welcomes decision on longer Pendolino trains Virgin Trains Press Release 31 July 2008
49. Rail Magazine Issue 591 7 May 2008 Page 64
50. Charter train potential for Virgin Trains 'new-look' loco-hauled trainset Virgin Trains Press Release 1 July 2009
51. "Please note: Virgin Trains onboard entertainment system no longer functions." Headphones, Virgin Trains.
52. http://www.northernrailways.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2921&start=0
53. "Virgin Trains customers get on-board WiFi between Birmingham and Scotland" (Press release). Virgin Trains. 5 November 2009.
54. "Virgin Trains customers get on-board WiFi from North Wales and Chester" (Press release). Virgin Trains. 5 November 2009.
55. "Wi-Fi on Virgin Trains". Virgin Trains. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
56. "Virgin Trains honour teen fundraiser Stephen Sutton". Dial2Donate. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
57. "Virgin to eliminate four-car Super Voyagers". Rail-News.com (Ashby-da-la-Zouch). 16 November 2010.
58. "Charter train potential for Virgin Trains’ ‘new-look’ loco-hauled trainset" (Press release). Virgin Trains. 1 July 2009.
59. Wright, Robert (20 May 2009). "Branson urges £1bn rail spend". Financial Times (London). Retrieved 25 May 2009.
60. Ford, Roger (November 2010). "No extension for Virgin". Modern Railways. p. 7.
61. Official Journal of the European Union Notice OJEU 11 January 2011
62. "Shortlisted Bidders for Greater Anglia and InterCity West Coast Franchises" (PDF) (Press release). Department for Transport. 24 March 2011.
63. Milmo, Dan (15 May 2011). "Transport minister Philip Hammond delays Virgin Trains' west coast sale". The Observer (London).
64. "West Coas passengers in line for 28,000 extra seats as franchise extension signed" (Press release). Department for Transport. 27 October 2011.
65. "InterCity West Coast franchise" (Press release). Department for Transport. 20 January 2012.
66. "New operator for West Coast passengers" (Press release). Department for Transport. 15 August 2012.
67. "West Coast Main Line franchise competition cancelled" (Press release). Department for Transport. 3 October 2012.
68. "Virgin to run West Coast route 'for at least nine months'". BBC News. 15 October 2012.
69. "Department for Transport to negotiate with Virgin on temporary operation of West Coast rail services" (Press release). Department for Transport. 15 October 2012.
70. "Virgin Trains to run improved west coast services" (Press release). Department for Transport. 6 December 2012.
71. Two-year-extension-for-Virgin-Rail-after-West-Coast-chaos.html "Two-year extension for Virgin Rail after West Coast chaos". The Daily Telegraph (London). 6 December 2012.
72. "Railway plan puts new focus on passengers". Secretary of State for Transport. 26 March 2013.
73. West Coast Trains Limited 4th Supplemental Agreement Office of Rail Regulation 31 July 2013
74. "Update: Direct London-Shrewsbury rail services" (Press release). Virgin Trains. 15 January 2014.
75. "Rail franchise schedule" (PDF).
76. "TRAVEL: First Class from Virgin Trains". Carlisle United F.C. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
77. "Preston North End Agree Virgin Trains Partnership". Preston North End F.C. 5 August 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
78. "Virgin Trains sponsor Manchester International Festival". 10 June 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2014.

Further reading

• Dunn, Pip (4–17 November 1998). "He who cares wins!". RAIL. No. 343 (EMAP Apex Publications). pp. 30–35. ISSN 0953-4563. OCLC 49953699.

External links

• Media related to Virgin Trains at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
• Virgin Trains Seating Plans
• Virgin Rail Group