Virgin Trains delivers its VHF promises

Passengers have flocked to Virgin Trains in record numbers in the first full year of the Virgin High Frequency (VHF) service. Under VHF, launched on 14 December 2008, Virgin Trains has carried 25.4 million customers, attracted by the 30 percent step-up in train frequency and faster journey times. These are the best-ever annual carryings under Virgin Trains’ stewardship of the West Coast.

Total growth in passenger numbers is 15 percent. Growth has continued through the year, despite the difficult economic situation, in marked contrast to airlines and other long-distance rail operators. The share of the rail/air market on the Manchester/London route is over 80 percent, and on Glasgow/London has doubled to 17 percent as customers have switched away from domestic air travel and turned to trains instead.

The routes from Manchester and Birmingham to London Euston have seen train frequencies increased to every 20 minutes, and average journey times in the case of Manchester slashed to as little as 2h05. The number of direct trains from London to Glasgow increased from nine to 13 a day while, since 26 January, Chester has been linked to the Capital by a train each hour. Liverpool received extra peak period trains to and from London Euston.

Tony Collins, Virgin Trains’ Chief Executive Officer, said: “After a year of operation it is clear that VHF works. The intensive use of the network and of our trains is vital if the UK is to gain maximum benefit for the investment in the West Coast.”

Passengers travelling at weekends, previously used to limited frequencies and slow schedules while Network Rail carried out the West Coast Upgrade, have enjoyed some of the biggest improvements. Those taking weekend breaks, for example, have 20 minute interval services between London and Manchester and Birmingham through to mid-evening on Sundays. Passenger numbers at weekends have grown by 36 percent.

Service performance has steadily improved over the year after initially disappointing punctuality in the early part of 2009. Over the period between August and November the Public Performance Measure (PPM) was 90.1 percent. Our fleets of Pendolino and Super Voyager trains remain some of the most reliable in the industry.

During the year a number of other improvements have been introduced for customers. Wi-Fi and enhanced mobile reception has been installed on all our trains. Our programme of increasing car park spaces is now nearly complete, with some 2800 spaces delivered and extra capacity of 1000 spaces at remaining stations to come on stream during 2010. A new First Class Lounge has been opened at Crewe station; lounges at London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street have been completely refurbished.

Passengers have taken advantage of excellent deals on tickets. The average price paid per mile has gone down by 8.4 percent. A revamped website - virgintrains.com - launched in November makes it even simpler for customers to find the best prices, particularly through the user-friendly Best Fare Finder. Over 500,000 discounted Advance tickets are available every week.

Virgin Trains announces additional trains following Flyglobespan collapse

Virgin Trains has today announced the times of the additional trains on the London to Glasgow via Preston route over the Christmas and New Year holiday period, which will help passengers affected by the collapse of Scotland’s airline Flyglobespan. The extra trains had been arranged to help passengers affected by the planned strike action on British Airways, but will continue to operate following the High Court ruling that the strike cannot go ahead.

The extra trains will supplement the already advertised service of 26 trains daily in both directions between Euston and Glasgow.

Chris Gibb, Virgin Trains’ Chief Operating Officer said today: “Christmas and New Year is an extremely busy time for us, but I am confident that with the additional trains being arranged alongside our scheduled services, most of which have 439 seats, we will be able to carry all our regular customers together with those affected by the planned BA strike and those whose travel plans have been disrupted by the collapse of Flyglobespan.”

The extra trains will operate at the following times, full details will be available next week on online journey planners.

Tuesday 22 December 2009
10:38 Preston to London Euston (calling at Wigan North Western and Warrington Bank Quay)
13:33 London Euston to Lancaster (calling at Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western and Preston)
14:30 London Euston to Glasgow Central (calling at Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith and Carlisle)

Wednesday 23 December 2009
*08:30 Glasgow Central to London Euston (calling at Preston, Wigan North Western and Warrington Bank Quay)
13:33 London Euston to Lancaster (calling at Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western and Preston)
14:30 London Euston to Glasgow Central (calling at Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith and Carlisle)





Thursday 24 December 2009
*08:30 Glasgow Central to London Euston (calling at Preston, Wigan North Western and Warrington Bank Quay)
13:33 London Euston to Lancaster (calling at Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western and Preston)

Monday 28 December 2009
10:38 Preston to London Euston (calling at Wigan North Western and Warrington Bank Quay)
13:33 London Euston to Lancaster (calling at Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western and Preston)
14:30 London Euston to Glasgow Central (calling at Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith and Carlisle)

Tuesday 29 December 2009 and Wednesday 30 December 2009
*08:30 Glasgow Central to London Euston (calling Preston, Wigan North Western and Warrington Bank Quay)
13:33 London Euston to Lancaster (calling at Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western and Preston)
14:30 London Euston to Glasgow Central (calling at Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith and Carlisle)

Thursday 31 December 2009
13:33 London Euston to Lancaster (calling at Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western and Preston)
14:30 London Euston to Glasgow Central (calling at Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith and Carlisle)

Friday 1 January 2010
10:38 Preston to London Euston (calling at Wigan North Western and Warrington Bank Quay)
13:33 London Euston to Lancaster (calling at Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western and Preston)
14:30 London Euston to Glasgow Central (calling at Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith and Carlisle)

Saturday 2 January 2010
*08:30 Glasgow Central to London Euston (calling at Preston, Wigan North Western and Warrington Bank Quay)
14:30 London Euston to Glasgow Central (calling at Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith and Carlisle)

*The departure time from Glasgow is subject to confirmation and customers should confirm details next week with National Rail Enquiries on 0845 48 49 50 or using the online journey planner at www.virgintrains.com.

Signalman who averted major disaster at Carlisle station 25 years ago is honoured by Virgin Trains

Virgin Trains has honoured a former signaller at Carlisle, whose quick actions averted a major disaster in the City 25 years ago.

Bill Taylor avoided disaster in the early hours of 1 May 1984 by his quick thinking when he realised that a freight train had become uncoupled and both portions of the train were rolling downhill towards Carlisle station.

A plaque was unveiled in the waiting room near platform 6 at Carlisle station on 17 December 2009, in memory of Bill Taylor by Peter Robinson, a railway historian who chairs the Cumbrian Railway Association.

Whilst on duty on 1 May 1984 Bill realised that something had happened to prevent the brakes automatically preventing the rear section of the train from running away. Recognising that in the darkness the driver was probably unaware of what had happened, Bill knew he had only moments to act.

The locomotive and the front part of the heavy freight train that was still coupled to it were allowed to run forward into Carlisle Citadel station. Still under the control of the driver, this part of the train was brought safely to a stand.

After the leading part of the freight train had passed, Bill switched the points to divert the runaway onto a freight-only line bypassing the station, where a passe4nger train for London was picking up passengers. There was significant wreckage when the errant wagons derailed on a bridge over the River Caldew, but thanks to Mr Taylor’s actions, nobody was hurt and the historic passenger station was saved.

After investigation, safety procedures were changed to ensure that such a runaway would never happen again, with brakes coming on automatically to bring all wagons to a stop in the unlikely event of a similar coupling breakage.

The events of 1984 are part of railway history, but the plaque will help ensure that the memory of Bill Taylor and his prompt action will continue to be remembered.

Virgin Trains Station Manager for Carlisle Ann Turner said: “Bill Taylor’s actions are well know in Carlisle and his quick thinking prevented a major accident in the station. When Bill’s son David approached us to commemorate the 25th anniversary we were happy to have a plaque displayed in a prominent place on the station.”

Christmas and New Year services on Virgin Trains

Virgin Trains is reminding passengers to check train times and book seats in plenty of time as services around the holiday period on all their routes are likely to be very busy. There has been a 20 percent year-on-year increase in Advance ticket sales. Seats can be booked when purchasing tickets online at virgintrains.com, by phone on 08457 222 333, or in person at Virgin Trains stations. Train times can be checked by visiting nationalrail.co.uk or calling 08457 48 49 50.

Apart from Christmas Day and Boxing Day when there will be no services, trains will be running every day.

Day by day summary of services

24 December: Normal Thursday service. Services reduced from early evening in preparation for a mid-evening shutdown.

25 and 26 December: No services.

27 December: Normal Sunday service. Some early morning trains withdrawn. Full service from mid-morning. Wilmslow will be served by rail replacement coach services all day because of route improvement work.

28 December:: Normal Monday service. Wilmslow will be served by rail replacement coach services all day because of route improvement work.

29 and 30 December: Normal weekday service.

31 December: Normal Thursday service. Services reduced from early evening in preparation for a mid-evening shutdown.

1 January: Some early morning services withdrawn. Normal weekday service from mid-morning.

2 and 3 January: Normal Saturday and Sunday services. No route improvement work.

4 January onwards: Normal weekday service, except that the 22:30 and 23:30 London Euston to Wolverhampton services will both terminate at Birmingham New Street.

Ticketing

Time restrictions on Off-Peak tickets will be lifted from 24 December to 3 January inclusive while First Class upgrades will be available from Train Managers at £15.00 from 27 December through until 3 January.

Super Off Peak walk up tickets at just £14.50 can be bought at ticket offices from 29 December to 3 January inclusive for journeys in either direction between London Euston and Rugby, Coventry, Birmingham International, and Birmingham New Street. They are also available in either direction from Watford Junction and Milton Keynes Central to Coventry, Birmingham International and Birmingham New Street. These bargain tickets do carry time restrictions; customers should enquire when booking.

Train catering in First Class

Although the full First Class catering offer will be withdrawn between 27 December and 3 January, First Class customers travelling on Pendolino trains will receive at their seats a selection of hot drinks, water, crisps, biscuits and fresh fruit. First Class customers travelling on Super Voyagers can collect refreshments from The Shop at weekends and between 27 December and 3 January.

Virgin Trains to run 25 additional services on London – Scotland route during BA strike

Virgin Trains is urgently firming up precise timing details for 25 additional services that it plans to run on the London – Glasgow via Preston route over the Christmas and New Year holiday period to help passengers affected by the proposed strike by British Airways’ cabin crew.

The extra trains will supplement the already advertised service of 26 trains daily in both directions between Euston and Glasgow.

Chris Gibb, Virgin Trains’ Chief Operating Officer said today: “We will of course be busy at this time of year, but I am confident that with the additional trains being arranged alongside our scheduled services most of which have 439 seats, we will be able to carry all our regular customers together with those displaced by the BA strike whom I would like to welcome to our trains.”

Further details regarding the exact timings of extra trains will be available very soon.

Virgin Trains look to help BA’s strike hit customers

Virgin Trains is urgently examining the possibility of extra services between London and Glasgow following this afternoon’s announcement by British Airways cabin crew for possible strike action over the Christmas and New Year holiday period. Further details will be announced as soon as timings of any additional trains have been confirmed.

A Virgin Trains spokesperson said today: “It is really important that families wanting to travel between London and Glasgow for the holiday period do not have their festive plans ruined by strike action. It is a very busy time of year but Virgin Trains will do everything possible to help.”

Services run every 20 minutes on the London to Manchester route so there will be ample capacity to convey the small number of British Airways passengers who continue to fly between Manchester and London.

Christmas record for Virgin Trains as growth continues

Virgin Trains today (11 December 2009) announced record-breaking sales figures for the Christmas and New Year period, with advance bookings at their highest ever level.

On the day it filed its latest annual accounts, Virgin Trains announced a 20 per cent year-on-year increase in advance ticket sales, with some routes seeing bookings double.

Set to be one of the busiest festive periods for Virgin Trains, routes to London, Birmingham, Glasgow and Manchester are proving popular with nearly 145,000 advance bookings. The Chester and North Wales line is particularly popular this year with over 100% uplift in advance sales.

Virgin Trains has also confirmed that its business is thriving as it continues to grow faster than any other UK franchised train operator. Passenger numbers increased by 1.5m to 22.5 million in the year ending February 2009, according to annual accounts filed today.

Main elements from the annual accounts to March 2009 include:

	To 28 Feb 2009	To Feb 2008	Increase/decrease
Passenger revenue	£611m	£581m	+5%
Franchise support payments	£24.12m	£119.61m	-79%
Profits after tax	£76.42m	£56.45m	+35%
Passenger numbers	22.5m	21m	+7%

Further growth in 2009 has seen passenger volumes increase by around 20% year-on-year since the launch of the high-frequency timetable in December 2008. In the current year Virgin Trains expects to carry around 26 million passengers as more passengers are taking advantage of discounted Advance tickets, with around 500,000 available every week.

Growth has risen sharply since infrastructure disruption which impacted punctuality across the network in 2008 and early 2009. “We have been pleased with the improvements made by Network Rail over the last few months but will continue to monitor their performance and keep the pressure on them to deliver a top class railway,” said Tony Collins, Virgin Rail Chief Executive Officer.

Completion of major route upgrade work has seen a reduction in weekend engineering works. Performance has also improved with the highest ever figure of 93.4% of trains arriving on time being recorded in the four weeks ended 16 October. Performance between September and November 2009 has been consistently above 90%.

There are now 2,180 train services operating every week, including trains every 20 minutes between London and Birmingham, and London and Manchester, along with an hourly service linking London and Chester.

Since taking over the West Coast rail franchise 12 years ago, Virgin has increased the number of passengers from 13.6 million to 22.5 million a year in 2008/9, replaced the entire train fleet; and increased trains on weekdays by 50%.

More than 200 million passenger journeys have now been made with Virgin Trains on its West Coast operations since March 1997. Virgin Trains also stands out as the only train operator that has significantly reduced journey times across its entire network.


ENDS





Innovating for customers: highlights of work since 1997

• Over 130 new trains (with over 750 new carriages) in our Pendolino and Voyager fleets have been put into service, at a cost of £2 billion across West Coast and CrossCountry operations providing a legacy for CrossCountry customers.

• Increasing services has resulted in 60% more customers in the last five years, from 14.5m in 2004 to an estimated 26m in 2009/10.

• Major improvements to passenger facilities at stations, and enhanced our car parks - creating 5000 additional spaces.

• A massive change in service in 2008, with 32% more services and the most frequent long-distance service in Europe (London - Manchester and London - Birmingham, both every 20 minutes).

• Average journey times to Manchester have been slashed to 2 hours 5 minutes, from 2 hours 30 minutes.

Notes to editors:

Virgin Trains currently operates 2180 train services a week on its West Coast network. That’s almost 113,000 train services a year.

The financial accounts for West Coast Trains Limited covering the year to 28 February 2009 were deposited with Companies House on 11 December 2009.

They show a profit after tax of £76 million on overall turnover of £673 million. Franchise support from Government was £24 million, down 79.8% on the 2007/08 financial year.

Images of Virgin Trains and the company’s operations are available in the Image Library on our online Media Room website http://mediaroom.virgintrains.co.uk

You can subscribe to receive alerts to new press releases by visiting http://mediaroom.virgintrains.co.uk

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 been recognised in numerous industry awards. In 2009 the company was awarded the Globe Travel Awards 2009 ‘Best Rail Operator’ Category as voted by Evening Standard readers; voted Best UK Domestic Train Service by Business Traveller magazine for the second year running; and named Best Rail Operator in the 2009 Group Leisure Awards, run by Group Leisure, the magazine for group travel organisers.

Hi-speed Santa arrives at Warley Woods, Birmingham

Father Christmas will arrive at Warley Woods on Sunday 13 December in a Virgin Pendolino sleigh.

Santa in the Woods starts at 1600. Santa sets off from the drinking fountain on his ride through the park in before parking his sleigh at the Pavilion at Lightwoods Hill. The event finishes at 1930.

Gary Iddon, Virgin Trains’ General Manager for the West Midlands said:

‘Warley Woods is a great local resource, and we’re pleased to support the Community Trust’s Santa in the Woods event. Father Christmas will be arriving in a Pendolino train sleigh, but Mums and Dads needn’t worry – the train will travel much slower than its real life counterpart, which speeds between Birmingham and London at up to 125 mph.’

A special Christmas Pendolino cake, made by one of Virgin Trains own staff, will be one of the raffle prizes on the day.

Virgin trains staff also supported the Warley Woods Dog Day in the Summer and held a charity golf day on the course at Warley in the Autumn.

ENDS

Notes for editors

Warley Woods Community Trust (WWCT) is a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee. WWCT is the only charity in the United Kingdom to have taken responsibility for an urban park.

Christmas is set for the record books

The countdown to Christmas is officially under way and it looks set to be a record breaking one for leading west coast rail provider, Virgin Trains. With advance ticket sales the highest since 1997 people are opting to take the train to get them home this Christmas resulting in a 20% uplift on 2008 sales, with some routes seeing bookings double.

Set to be one of the busiest festive periods for Virgin Trains, even without the additional walk-up tickets, routes to London, Birmingham, Glasgow and Manchester are proving popular with nearly 145,000 advance bookings. The Chester and North Wales line is proving to be particularly popular this year with over 100% uplift in advance sales.


Advance ticket sales comparing 2008 – 2009

London – Manchester / Manchester – London:
63,308 (2009) * 50,975 (2008) * 24% growth

Euston – Birmingham/Wolverhampton / Birmingam/Wolverhampton – Euston:
33,787 (2009) * 25,658 (2008) * 31% growth

Euston – Liverpool / Liverpool – Euston:
29,740 (2009) * 25,578 (2008) * 16% growth

Euston – Chester & Holyhead / Holyhead & Chester – Euston:
15,933 (2009) * 7,688 (2008) * 107% growth

Euston – Glasgow / Glasgow – Euston:
47,599 (2009) * 38,388 (2008) * 24% growth

Says Jim Rowe, Senior Communications Manager at Virgin Trains: “Christmas is always a busy time, but this year it is set to break all the records. With our high frequency timetable offering faster services, including weekends, we hope people will share the festivities with family up and down the country.”

With a newly redesigned website (www.virgintrains.com/) Virgin Trains is advising people not to worry there are still seats available and the advice is simple – book early to avoid disappointment. Packed with improvements such as a shorter booking process, transparency around fare savings, interactive route maps and real time station information, live travel updates direct to your iPhone and pocket timetables, whilst still retaining the old favourites such as best fare finder, the new site has been based around customer needs.

Advance sales compare bookings made for travel between 16th December – 3rd January.

– ENDS –

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

More car parking spaces at Crewe station from 14 December 2009

Increased parking facilities will be available for users of Crewe railway station from Monday 14th December 2009.

Due to customer concerns that the existing railway car park at Pedley Street is at capacity early in the morning, Virgin Trains has taken out a lease on part of a Lorry Park located in Cowley Way, off Weston Road, a short distance from the station. This will provide a further 365 parking spaces, in addition to the 500 spaces at the current Pedley Street site.

Walking time from Cowley Way to the railway station is under ten minutes.

For the safety and security of users, the car park also has CCTV throughout with 24 hour recording. Payment machines are located in the booking hall at Crewe station.

An introductory charging structure is to be offered, including attractive daily rates, both for peak and even further discounts for off peak users.

All-day weekday parking at Cowley Way will only cost £4 a day. A new off-peak rate, available on weekdays after 10:00 will be £2 and a the charge at weekends and Bank Holidays will be £1. Monthly, six monthly and annual season tickets are also available. These offer significant further discounts for regular peak time users. The new monthly ticket costs £49 effectively offering daily parking, based on 20 days use a month at just £2.45 a day. The annual ticket is priced at £490 and if used for just 45 weeks a year offers an equivalent daily parking rate of just £2.18 a day.

Virgin Trains Station Manager at Crewe Sam Dixon said: “The limited parking facilities at Crewe station have caused problems for rail travellers in recent years. Now with over 350 extra spaces everyone should be able to find a parking space, and the special weekend rates should appeal to shoppers and leisure travellers. The location of the car park will allow customers driving from the south of the town to avoid the heavily congested area around Nantwich Road ”

The car park has a new ‘Pay on Foot’ payment system, where a ticket is issued on entry to the car park. Payment must then be made at the machine in the booking hall at Crewe station prior to customers returning to their car to exit the car park.

Sam Dixon added: "More passengers are travelling by train than ever before and the demand for rail travel is set to continue to rise. We predict that a large proportion of these extra passengers will drive to the station, putting even more strain on the car park.”


ENDS

Notes to Editors:
The full pricing structure for Crewe (Cowley Way) car park is:
All day (Mondays-Fridays) £4.00
After 10:00 Monday-Friday £2.00
Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays £1.00
Monthly Season Ticket £49.00
Six-month Season Ticket £258.00
Annual Season Ticket £490.00

Virgin Trains’ seeks passengers views

Virgin Trains is looking to recruit three new members to its Passengers Panel. This unique opportunity allows passengers to tell Virgin Trains what they think about our train services, stations and trains.

Membership of the Passengers’ Panel is open to all and we are looking for a cross-section of both business and leisure passengers across all our routes. We welcome applications We are particularly interested in hearing from passengers who use our Liverpool route; students who look for bargain fares and people who make leisure journeys with their children. We are also keen to hear from passengers with mobility difficulties, or others who make use of our JourneyCare facility.

Panel members may travel with Virgin Trains every day, or just a couple of times a year. This is a great opportunity to tell us what you think. The Passengers Panel meets four times a year and members are invited to give their feedback on their own Virgin Trains experiences. Passenger Panel members are also consulted on future projects and are able to influence the decisions that are made.

Members of the Panel will receive complimentary First Class travel to meetings and will also be given complimentary membership of Virgin Trains’ exclusive Traveller club.

Applications should be made in writing and provide details of what could be contributed as a member of the Panel. Please include full postal address, email address and age. Applications should also indicate how often travel with Virgin Trains is made and also which route(s) are used.

Applicants should also indicate which areas of the Virgin Trains business they would like to find out more about, or would like to discuss.

Applications should be sent to: Helen Fisher, Virgin Trains Passengers Panel, Virgin Trains, PO Box 713, Meridian, Birmingham B5 4HH or by email to passenger.panel@virgintrains.co.uk. All applications must be received by Friday 1 January 2010.


Notes to Editors

Images of Virgin Trains and the company’s operations are available in the Image Library on our online Media Room website http://mediaroom.virgintrains.co.uk/

You can subscribe to receive alerts to new press releases by visiting http://mediaroom.virgintrains.co.uk/

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 been recognised in numerous industry awards. In 2009 the company was awarded the Globe Travel Awards 2009 ‘Best Rail Operator’ Category as voted by Evening Standard readers; voted Best UK Domestic Train Service by Business Traveller magazine for the second year running; and named Best Rail Operator in the 2009 Group Leisure Awards, run by Group Leisure, the magazine for group travel organisers.

More car parking spaces at Wigan North Western station from 7 December 2009

The new multi-storey car park at Wigan North Western station will open on Monday 7 December. The expanded car park will provide an additional 135 parking spaces, making a total of 403 spaces available at the West Coast station. For the safety and security of users, the car park also has CCTV throughout with 24 hour recording. The temporary car park in Chapel Street will close from the same date.

A new charging structure is also being introduced, offering substantial discounts over the full day rate for off peak and weekend users.

From 7 December all-day parking at Wigan North Western station will cost £8, and is the first increase in parking charges at the station for almost six years. New reduced off-peak parking charges will be available after 10:00 on weekdays costing £4 a day. On Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays the charge will be £2. Monthly, quarterly, six monthly and annual season tickets are also available for regular peak time users, which have also been increased to align them pro-rata with the new daily rate. The new monthly ticket costs £98 effectively offering daily parking, based on 20 days use a month at just £4.90 a day. The annual ticket is prices at £980 and if used for just 45 weeks a year offers an equivalent daily parking rate of just £4.36 a day.

Virgin Trains Station Manager at Wigan North Western Linsey Robinson said: “The limited parking facilities at Wigan North Westerrn station have caused problems for rail travellers in recent years. Now with 135 extra spaces everyone should be able to find a parking space, and the special off-peak rates should appeal to leisure and weekend travellers.”

The car park has a new ‘Pay on Foot’ payment system, where a ticket is issued on entry to the car park. Payment must then be made at the machine prior to customers returning to their car to leave the car park.

The work at Wigan North Western is part of a joint project between Virgin Trains and Network Rail to improve car parking at all 17 stations on the West Coast route which are managed by Virgin Trains. The other stations involved are: Lancaster, Penrith, Warrington Bank Quay, Birmingham International, Carlisle, Oxenholme, Runcorn, Crewe, Stockport, Macclesfield, Stoke-on-Trent, Stafford, Wolverhampton, Rugby, Preston and Coventry.

Also provided is a a new layout at the front of the station resulting in a taxi rank just outside the booking hall and a drive through drop off area with short stay and disabled parking at the side of the station.

Mike Foss, Network Rail's Senior Commercial Scheme Sponsor said: "More passengers are travelling by train than ever before and the demand for rail travel is set to continue to rise. We predict that a large proportion of these extra passengers will drive to the station, putting even more strain on the car park.”


Notes to Editors:
The full pricing structure for Wigan North Western car park is:
All day (Mondays-Fridays) £8.00
Monday to Friday (after 10:00) £4.00
Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays £2.00
Monthly Season Ticket £98.00
Quarterly Season Ticket £279.00
Six-month Season Ticket £517.00
Annual Season Ticket £980.00


Virgin Trains Media Information

Images of Virgin Trains and the company’s operations are available on our online media website http://mediaroom.virgintrains.co.uk

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 been listed as the Best Train Operator in a survey by the Institute of Customer ; voted Best Rail Company by Travel Weekly magazine; Best UK Domestic Train Service by Business Traveler magazine and favorite train operator by readers of the London Evening Standard.