Virgin to run West Coast replacement shuttle train service

Virgin Trains will operate a direct Birmingham International to London Euston train service on all dates when the West Coast Main Line is closed at Rugby due to route upgrade work, offering a much better service for customers than during previous closures.

The special service will call at Coventry and then run non-stop using an alternative route through Warwickshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire before reaching London Euston via tracks normal used only for freight trains. The diesel Super Voyager service will operate hourly, provide more than 430 seats an hour, and take approximately an hour longer than the usual route. It will supplement the electric Pendolino service that, on most dates, will operate twice an hour between London and Northampton for coach connections which will serve Birmingham International. Virgin Trains services to Manchester, Liverpool and Scotland will operate from Birmingham International, with some through trains to / from London Euston.

The special service will operate for the first time on Saturday 28 June, and will then run on all days when the West Coast Main Line is closed in the Rugby/Milton Keynes area. With the additional closures Network Rail is now seeking, this will be more than 35 days in the next twelve months.

Virgin Trains Chief Operating Officer, Chris Gibb said: "The upgrading of the West Coast Main Line is essential to provide a state-of-the-art railway. We want to make travel during these route improvement works as painless as possible for our customers. That is why we have decided to provide this through train service."

Valuable support for getting this new service running so quickly has come from Chiltern Railways, EWS, Network Rail and Bombardier.

Light refreshments will be available on the trains, which will run every hour. Full details will be available in special timetables that will soon be available at stations or through online journey planners.


For further information contact the Virgin Trains Press Office on 0845 000 3333 or visit our media website at www.virgintrainsmediaroom.com


Notes to Editors:

Timetable - Saturdays 28 June until 6 September (A further timetable will be issued to cover beyond 6 September)

Northbound: The first train departs from London Euston at 09:00, calls at Coventry at 11:15, and arrives at Birmingham International at 11:28. Trains then run hourly until the 20:00 departure from London Euston.

Southbound: The first train departs from Birmingham International at 09:45, departs from Coventry at 09:56, and arrives at London Euston at 12:10.
Trains then run hourly until the 17:45 departure from Birmingham International.

The line to and from London Euston will be open until 10:00 on most Saturdays, with a frequent service operating via the normal route through Rugby until that time.

Images of Virgin Trains and the company's operations are available on our online media website www.virgintrainsmediaroom.com. You will need to register to access the Media Resources section containing high-resolution images of our operations.

Virgin Trains is the brand name of Virgin Rail Group. We have operated the West Coast passenger train franchise since 1997; the current franchise runs to March 2012.

Virgin Rail Group is owned 51 percent by Virgin Group and 49 percent by Stagecoach.

Virgin Trains has this year been listed as the Best Train Operator in a survey by the Institute of Customer Service; came joint top of the long-distance train operators for passenger satisfaction in the National Passenger Survey and has been voted Best Rail Company by Travel Weekly magazine.