The trains take the strain again... Virgin Trains and lastminute.com trial free pampering sessions on board

This week saw passengers on Virgin Trains able to relax and enjoy their journey even more with the option of free luxury hand massages on board. In partnership with lastminute.com teams of qualified beauty specialists walked the aisles on selected London to Manchester and Manchester to London trains offering those travelling a treat.

To further emphasise to passengers that travelling by train is a far easier and less stressful mode of transport than by air or car, the free hand massages lasted 2-3 minutes apiece with no pushy sales environment. The UK’s leading online travel and leisure retailer lastminute.com also used the opportunity to promote its spa break packages and distribute leaflets and money-off vouchers to lucky passengers. However the main objective of the partnership was to create a relaxing and hassle free on-board experience.

Says Jim Rowe, Senior Communications Manager, “We trialled this luxury treatment free of charge for customers and we hope it improved their overall experience of travelling by train. Quicker journey times, no traffic, free Wifi and now beauty treatments on board – what better way to make a journey! Over 100 people benefitted from the service and we will now review whether to introduce this across our network as a permanent offer.”

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For further information please contact Sophie Lennon or Hannah Baker on 020 7403 6900 or email sophie.lennon@thespaway.com

Passengers love Virgin trains and staff but want better stations

Virgin Trains passengers have given a big thumbs up to the trains, staff and value for money for price of ticket, but they have made clear they desperately want to see the same standards at stations. These details are contained in the latest National Passenger Survey from rail watchdog Passenger Focus, published today.

Virgin Trains has been rated top of long-distance rail franchisees on 'value for money for the price of your ticket' and joint top on 'overall satisfaction'. Virgin has been rated first or second on almost all aspects relating to trains – such as 'provision of information during the journey' and 'comfort of seating area', and first or second on around half of aspects relating to stations – such as 'connections with other public transport'.

Eighty nine percent of passengers are satisfied with their overall experience with Virgin Trains, compared to 84% a year earlier. Sixty four percent of passengers are satisfied with the value for money tickets for Virgin Trains represent, up from 56% a year earlier and higher than any other operator. Virgin Trains staff also received some of the highest scores for helpfulness.

But the gap between the standards on trains and those at stations has widened. Scores for stations used by Virgin Trains' passengers are below average in several areas affected by the condition of the stations. The results prompted a repeat of earlier calls by Virgin Trains to be allowed to take greater control of long-neglected stations, and bring them up to the levels of trains. Virgin Trains has day-to-day responsibility for managing 17 of the 43 stations it serves, but currently relies on Network Rail for major improvements. Virgin Trains believes that, as operator, it should take on this role.

Virgin Trains Chief Executive Tony Collins said: "The thumbs up for our trains and staff is great news, but I share our passengers' frustration at the state of our stations and facilities. I know from personal contact with our station staff that they would also like to see better station facilities and I am confident that with the right investment at stations they will deliver an even better service for our customers.

"That's why we support the plan of Transport Secretary Lord Adonis to improve the quality and facilities at stations up to 21^st Century standards. We have long argued that longer franchises and allowing train operators to invest in stations, would act as the catalyst to station improvements, which in turn could drive wider regional regeneration. It is encouraging that Lord Adonis shares this vision and is prepared to find ways of making it happen."

One key driver of the satisfaction results is the Virgin High Frequency timetable, introduced in December 2008. This saw journey times reduced, and an increase of over 30% in train services has seen frequency of trains score 86% (up from 81% in autumn 2008). Speed of trains has received a record score of 93% (up from 82% a year ago); with a massive improvement in train punctuality and reliability, to 90% against an 82% score in the previous autumn survey. The London to Manchester and London to Birmingham routes now have a train every 20 minutes, which has been described by Brendan Fox Editor of the Thomas Cook European Timetable as the "most frequent inter city timetable in Europe".

An example of the benefits of greater operator involvement is the surge in satisfaction scores for car parking at Virgin Trains stations. This follows an investment of over £90 million increasing the number of car parking spaces at stations, with almost 3000 extra spaces already delivered. The investment with Network Rail has seen passenger satisfaction on facilities for car parking score 56 percent – an increase of 13 percent since the autumn 2008 survey.

Category	Virgin Trains score %	Average long distance franchisee score %	Virgin Trains first or second among long distance franchisees
Overall
Overall satisfaction	89	87	Yes
Trains
Train - the frequency of trains on the route	86	82	Yes
Train - punctuality and and reliability	90	87	Yes
Train - journey time (speed)	93	88	Yes
Train - connections with other train services	84	77	Yes
Train - value for money for price of ticket	64	57	Yes
Train - cleanliness of the train	89	82	Yes
Train - upkeep and repair	88	82	Yes
Train - provision of information during journey	80	75	Yes
Train - helpfulness and attitude of on train staff	82	77	Yes
Train - space for luggage	50	51
Train - toilet facilities	58	52	Yes
Train - room for passengers	77	71	Yes
Train - comfort of seating area	80	78	Yes
Train - ease of getting on and off	87	82	Yes
Train - personal security while on board	85	83	Yes
Train - cleanliness of the inside	88	81	Yes
Train - cleanliness of the outside	84	79	Yes
Train - the availability of staff on the train	70	64	Yes
Train - how well train company dealt with delays	54	46	Yes
Stations
Station ticket buying facilities	79	80
Station - provision of information on train times	85	85	Yes
Station - upkeep and repair of buildings	69	73
Station - cleanliness	74	78
Station - facilities and services	66	65	Yes
Station - attitudes and helpfulness of staff	74	76
Station - connections with other public transport	79	74	Yes
Station - facilities for car parking	56	53	Yes
Station - the overal environment	70	74
Station - your personal security whilst using station	73	72	Yes
Station - the availability of staff	63	66
Station - how requests to staff were handled	87	88

The country’s HOT spots revealed…Virgin Trains reveals where the UK will be spending Valentine’s Day

Romantic weekends away are top of the present list for the nation this upcoming Valentine’s Day. With locations such as the Lake District and London amongst the most popular destinations for Virgin Trains passengers, tickets are selling fast.

New figures released by the leading West Coast rail provider, Virgin Trains, are shedding light on this years ‘hot’ spots and it appears people are planning on boarding the train in their hordes to enjoy a spot of romance with 11,000 passengers already scheduled to step aboard on Sunday 14 February. Also enticing travellers with their metropolitan offerings are Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester.

Top locations for Valentine’s Day on the Virgin Trains network this year are:
• Manchester
• Edinburgh
• London
• Lake District
• Glasgow.

Says Jim Rowe, Senior Communications Manager at Virgin Trains: “With Valentine’s Day falling on a Sunday this year we are delighted people are utilising this and embarking on long weekends away with their loved ones. With the trend for stay-cations still very strong, it is great to see people taking advantage of the beautiful locations on our doorstep, especially as they are now so easy to reach courtesy of frequent trains, shorter journey times and advance ticket fares.”

For the parents out there the next milestone on the agenda will be half-term and this too looks to be a busy time on the trains with Manchester, Glasgow and London amongst the top destinations. In fact Virgin Trains has already seen nearly 100,000 tickets sold for the upcoming February holiday. Jim Rowe continues: “As a parent myself I would advise anyone looking to go away for half-term to book as early as possible. I remember many school breaks feeling very long due to the challenges of having to entertain the children, and make our home seem like a fun and exciting place, when we would all rather be somewhere different for a week!”

Whether travelling with babies or older children Virgin Trains has an offering for everyone including the award winning VKidz bags and there is something to keep all the family entertained.

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For more information please contact Sophie Lennon or Hannah Baker at The SPA Way on 020 7403 6900 or email Hannah.baker@thespaway.com