Book Now for Spring Bank Holiday Train Services

LONDON, May 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

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 +44(0)8457-977-4222 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.

Notes to Editors

Visit our Media Room website - http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/about/media-room/ for an Image Library of pictures of Virgin Trains and the company's operations, or to subscribe to receive alerts to new press releases.

Virgin Trains has revolutionised rail travel by creating a high speed, high frequency service that has cut journey times and made rail journeys more comfortable. It has operated the West Coast passenger train franchise since 1997, serving key UK cities including London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Preston and Glasgow.

Virgin Trains is the brand name of Virgin Rail Group (VRG), which is owned 51 percent by Virgin Group and 49 percent by Stagecoach. The Department for Transport (DfT) has awarded VRG a franchise contract, which started on 9 December 2012 and will run for up to 23 months. The DfT announced on 26 March 2013 a programme for letting future franchises, with the long-term West Coast franchise expected to start in April 2017.

Virgin Trains has been recognised in numerous awards. In September 2012 Business Traveller magazine readers voted the company the Best UK Domestic Rail Operator for the sixth year running. In 2011 the company was named Best Rail Operator in the Group Leisure Awards (which it also won in 2009 and 2010). In 2011 Virgin Trains won the British Quality Foundation's Achievement Award for Customer Satisfaction.

Customers consistently rate the company the top long-distance rail franchise operator, as measured by the National Passenger Survey (NPS) run by industry watchdog Passenger Focus. In the most recent NPS (Autumn 2012) overall satisfaction was 92%, our best score ever.

Virgin Trains first achieved Investors In People accreditation in 2007 and this was renewed in 2010; the IIP Gold award was achieved in 2011. In May 2011 Virgin Trains was awarded accreditation against the criteria of the European Foundation for Quality Management's (EFQM) Excellence Model. The company's Learning and Development team won a National Training Awards 2011 West Midlands award for its Coaching Culture programme.

For more information about Virgin Trains visit the company's website http://www.virgintrains.com or the Media Room website http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/about/media-room.