Virgin Trains May Bank Holiday services

Network Rail Improvement work means changes to Virgin Trains’ services over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend

 Normal service all day on Friday and Bank Holiday Monday afternoon and evening   

There will be alterations to services over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend because of route improvement work but the principal travel days of Friday and Bank Holiday Monday afternoon and evening will see full scheduled services operating. 

On the Saturday, Sunday and Monday of the holiday weekend there will be work taking place at various times between Euston and Rugby, Crewe and Liverpool Lime Street, and between Crewe and Glasgow/Edinburgh. 

Friday, 4 May

There will be a normal Friday which includes extra services to Preston.

Saturday, 5 May

After 08:00 there will be no train services between Liverpool Lime Street and Crewe although a replacement coach service will run serving Runcorn.  Passengers travelling from Liverpool to Euston should travel via and change at either Chester, Manchester Piccadilly or Stockport for the quickest services to Euston.  

Because of route improvement work between Crewe and Warrington Bank Quay from 11:00 and between Crewe and Wigan North Western after 18:00, Birmingham to Scotland services will be diverted via an alternative route and will terminate at Carlisle.  Replacement coaches will then convey passengers to Edinburgh or Glasgow.  After 18:00 replacement coaches will also run between Crewe and Warrington Bank Quay and between Warrington Bank Quay and Wigan North Western. Passengers travelling between London and Scotland are advised to use the East Coast route, although there will be three direct early morning services from Glasgow to Euston.

Sunday 6 May

Route improvement work will be taking place all day at various locations between Rugby and Euston.  An approximate hourly service will run from Nuneaton to Euston calling at Coventry for connections to the West Midlands and then diverted via an alternative route to London.  There will be connections at Nuneaton with trains to and from Manchester and connections at Coventry for connections to and from the West Midlands.  Chester and North Wales services will run between Holyhead and Crewe.

Trains will be unable to run between Crewe and Liverpool Lime Street with Runcorn served by replacement coaches.  Passengers travelling between London and Liverpool are advised to travel via and change at Manchester and Nuneaton.

The route between Crewe and Glasgow is closed to allow Network Rail to carry out route improvement work at various locations.  Connecting replacement coaches will run in three separate sections – Crewe to Preston, Preston to Carlisle and Carlisle to Glasgow/Edinburgh.  Passengers travelling between London and Scotland are advised to use the East Coast route between Kings Cross and Edinburgh. 

Bank Holiday Monday 7 May

Route improvement work will be taking place between Crewe and Runcorn, Crewe and Warrington, and between Carlisle and Glasgow/Edinburgh, but in all cases this work is scheduled to be completed at 09:45.  This will mean that services on the Euston to Liverpool, Euston to Glasgow and Birmingham to Glasgow/Edinburgh routes will commence a little later than usual.

Two of the four tracks between Rugby and Euston will be closed until 12:00 while engineers carry out route improvement work.  During this time the Euston to Birmingham and Euston to Manchester services will have two services each hour instead of the normal three and North Wales and Chester services will only operate between Holyhead and Crewe.

For further information passengers should visit nationalrail.co.uk/easter 

or telephone 08457 484950.      

Extra train from Liverpool to London for FA Cup Final at Wembley

Virgin Trains has worked hard with East Midlands Trains, owned by Virgin Trains shareholder Stagecoach, and Network Rail to provide an additional return train service for Liverpool fans between Liverpool and London, using an alternative route which avoids engineering work on the direct West Coast route to London.

The extra train, which will have 470 standard class seats, will run southbound on Saturday 5 May at 09:25 and will run into St Pancras station in London. The return train will leave St Pancras station at 10:45 on Sunday 6 May. Journey time will be just over four hours. Fares will be £25 each way and can be booked at any staffed railway station. These special fares cannot be booked through online systems.  A reservation is compulsory for travel on this train and anyone without a valid travel ticket and reservation specifically for these trains will not be allowed onboard.

Football fans without reservations for the train to London St Pancras are reminded that, due to major engineering works on the direct route from Liverpool to London Euston on Saturday 5 May, they will need to travel via Manchester or Chester, or use Stoke-on-Trent station. However the decision by the Football Association for a 17:15 kick-off means there are no options for fans to return north the same day after the game.

With the West Coast route out of London closed on Sunday 6 May, the earliest direct trains that fans could use to return to Liverpool would be on Monday 7 May.

Virgin Trains scoops another award

Virgin Trains has won another prestigious award, being voted the top long-distance franchise operator for 2012 by leading industry experts.

The Institute of Transport Management placed Virgin Trains at the top of the industry, beating UK operators and SNCF-owned Eurostar.

The ITM based its award on areas including price, frequency, punctuality, health and safety, comfort and cleanliness. It is because of this that the Institute of Transport Management has given Virgin Trains the award of “Long Distance Franchise Provider 2012”, in respect of the full service offering that it provides its customers.

According to the ITM: “Virgin is a company that cares about people – both its customers and its staff – and this shines through in the service that it provides. Its success speaks for itself, in its doubling of passenger numbers, in its customer satisfaction ratings and in its commitment to continual improvements. Its vision to transform rail travel is well on the way to being a reality and the Institute is very pleased to award it the title of ‘Long Distance Franchise Provider 2012’. It is very well deserved.”

Tony Collins, CEO of Virgin Trains said: “We pride ourselves on customer service and independent surveys and awards repeatedly recognise the efforts made by our staff. We are delighted to win this ITM award ahead of competition such as Eurostar and we will continue to work hard to provide the best possible service.”

Virgin Trains has recently been named best train operator by Which? Magazine, and is top of the long-distance train franchises by the independent National Passenger Survey.

It also won best rail operator last year in the Daily Mail Globe Travel Awards.