Book now for Spring Bank Holiday train services

Virgin Trains is asking customers to make sure they have reserved seats for train travel over the Spring Bank Holiday weekend by booking their tickets in advance.  This can be done online by visiting virgintrains.com, calling 08457 977 4222 or calling in at any Virgin Trains’ station where knowledgeable travel consultants will be able to discuss and book journey requirements.  Weekend First Class Upgrades along with Off-Peak tickets will be available for travel throughout the three-day holiday weekend together with an extensive range of Advance tickets.

Network Rail is taking the opportunity to carry out essential route improvement work on the West Coast Main Line – one of the busiest rail routes in Europe – at certain times during the holiday period when fewer people are travelling to work.  In most cases work is scheduled to be completed by early afternoon on the Bank Holiday Monday allowing homecoming travellers to complete journeys without interruption.  Where work is taking place alternative routes are available for train travel in many cases, although in order to ensure that all stations are served replacement coaches will have to be used for some journeys.

For full details of train and replacement coach timings visit nationalrail.co.uk or call 08457 48 49 50.

Here is a day by day summary of those sections of route that are closed for improvement work:

Saturday 25 May

• Wolverhampton to Stafford – Trains diverted, not serving Wolverhampton.  Replacement coaches Wolverhampton to Stafford

• Crewe to Liverpool Lime Street from 11:00 – Train connections via Manchester for journeys to/from London Euston. For local journeys use replacement coaches

• Crewe to Warrington Bank Quay from 11:00 – Train diversions via Chester

• Preston to Oxenholme Lake District – Replacement coaches, or for Anglo Scottish journeys to/from Birmingham New Street or London Euston use East Coast route

• Lockerbie to Edinburgh  – Trains diverted via an alternative route.

Sunday 26 May

• London Euston to Rugby – Route open to trains but some individual lines shut so reductions in service frequency. 

• On the Chester/Holyhead route services will start from/terminate at Crewe

• Birmingham New Street to Wolverhampton – Trains diverted not serving Wolverhampton.   Combination of local trains and replacement coaches between Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton.  Replacement coaches Wolverhampton to Stafford  

• Crewe to Liverpool Lime Street – Train connections via Manchester Piccadilly for journeys to/from London Euston.  For local journeys use replacement coaches

• Crewe to Warrington Bank Quay – Diversions via Chester

• Preston to Oxenholme Lake District – Replacement coaches, or for Anglo Scottish journeys to/from Birmingham New Street or London Euston use East Coast route

• Lockerbie to Edinburgh – Trains diverted via an alternative route.

Monday 27 May 

• London Euston to Milton Keynes Central until 12:00 – Route open to trains but some individual lines shut so reductions in service frequency

• On the Chester/Holyhead route services will start from/terminate at Crewe 

• Wolverhampton to Stafford – Trains running between Birmingham New Street and Crewe diverted and not serving Wolverhampton.  Replacement coaches Wolverhampton to Stafford

• Crewe to Liverpool Lime Street until 11:00 – Replacement coaches for local journeys

• Crewe to Warrington Bank Quay until 11:00 – Diversions via Chester 

• Preston to Oxenholme Lake District until 13:00 – Replacement coaches

• Lockerbie to Edinburgh –- Trains diverted via an alternative route.  Until 12:00 replacement coaches.

Harry’s wish is on the right track

The news release and photo below were published by Make-A-Wish and are reproduced here with their kind permission. 

After being diagnosed with Leukaemia in October 2012, 11 year old Harry Kemp turned to the things he loved most to distract him from treatment – trains, cars and all things fast! So when he was offered the chance to have his ultimate wish granted, he of course chose to have a fast train experience…

Harry’s wish, which was granted by Make-A-Wish Foundation® UK, the charity that grants magical wishes to children and young people fighting life-threatening conditions, started at London Euston on Tuesday 9 April where he was met by Virgin Trains’ Driver Team Manager, Girish Jani. Harry was then given the exclusive opportunity to ride in the cab alongside driver, Craig Brooks, all the way to Crewe. Harry learnt what all the different buttons did, got to see just how fast trains can go and even got to sound the horn which, in Harry’s words, was “epic”! Once Harry and his family had arrived at Crewe they were whisked to the Virgin Trains Talent Academy where they got to experience a train simulator and explore a disused train before heading back to London in First Class.

Harry, who is from Swindon, was diagnosed on Halloween with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia after complaining of double vision. He had the first of four cycles of chemotherapy just two days later, which left him with no hair and a very low immune system. Subsequently, from November to mid-March Harry was either home or hospital-bound as he regularly picked up infections. Harry finished his last round of chemotherapy in February and has now gone back to school part-time. 

Harry’s Mum, Emma, said: “One of the toughest parts of Harry’s illness was the disruption to family life because either myself or my husband Paul would stay with Harry in hospital and the other would be at home with his older sister, Jessica.

“I haven’t got the right words to say how grateful we are for being given the opportunity to spend time together as a family and not have to worry about Harry and hospital appointments. It was lovely to see our children smiling and laughing…’thank you’ doesn’t cover it.” 

There are currently 20,000 children and young people in the UK fighting life-threatening conditions. Make-A-Wish will grant more than 1,100 wishes in 2013, and needs to raise £7 million to achieve this. The charity receives no government funding or lottery grants – so every donation really does count.  

To make a donation to Make-A-Wish please visit www.make-a-wish.org.uk or telephone 01276 40 50 60.

Book now for May Day holiday train services

Virgin Trains is urging customers to make sure they have reserved seats for train travel over the May Day bank holiday weekend by booking their tickets as soon as possible.  This can be done on line by visiting virgintrains.com, phoning 0871 977 4222 or calling in at any Virgin Trains station where knowledgeable travel consultants will be able to discuss and book journey requirements.  Weekend First Class Upgrades along with Off Peak tickets will be available for travel throughout the three day holiday weekend together with an extensive range of Advance tickets.

Network Rail is taking the opportunity to carry out essential route improvement work on the West Coast Main Line – one of the busiest rail routes in Europe – at certain times during the holiday period while less people are travelling to work.  In most cases this work is scheduled to be completed by early afternoon on the bank holiday Monday allowing returning travellers to complete journeys without interruption.  Where work is taking place, in many cases alternative routes are available for train travel, although in order to ensure that all stations are served, in some cases replacement coaches, will have to be used.

For full details of train and replacement coach timings visit either nationalrail.co.uk or call 08457 48 49 50.

Here is a day by day summary of those sections of route that are closed for improvement work:-

Saturday 4 May

• Rugby to Stafford via Nuneaton from 21:00 – Trains diverted via the West Midlands route
• Crewe to Liverpool Lime Street  - Train connections via Manchester for journeys to/from London Euston or for local journeys use replacement coaches
• Crewe to Warrington Bank Quay from 10:00 – Train diversions via Chester
• Preston to Oxenholme – Replacement coaches, or for Anglo Scottish journeys to/from Birmingham New Street or London Euston use East Coast route
• Motherwell station– Train diversions
• Lockerbie to Edinburgh from 10:45 – Trains diverted via an alternative route

Sunday 5 May

·         Milton Keynes to Rugby – An hourly service of trains to/from Euston diverted via an alternative route with passengers changing at either Coventry or Nuneaton for connections to the North.   Replacement coaches serve Milton Keynes

·         Crewe to Liverpool Lime Street – Replacement coaches connecting at Crewe out of services from the South

·         Crewe to Glasgow Central – Replacement coaches, or for Anglo Scottish journeys to/from Birmingham New Street or London Euston use East Coast route

·          Carlisle to Edinburgh – Replacement coaches   

Monday 6 May 

·         Euston to Milton Keynes until 12:00 – Route open to trains but some individual lines shut so reductions in service frequency

·         Birmingham International to Birmingham New Street – Trains diverted via an alternative route

·         Preston to Oxenholme  until 13:00 – Replacement coaches