LONDON, November 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
Virgin Trains has streamlined its ticketing arrangements for small groups booking on the Virgin Trains website, and increased the discount offered.
Groups of three to nine people travelling together can receive a 20% discount on even the cheapest Advance tickets on Virgin Trains.
Launching the new fares, Graham Leech Virgin Trains' Commercial Director said:
'With our fast and frequent services more and more people are choosing to use Virgin Trains for leisure travel. Often people want to travel with their friends or family. Our new Group-e tickets make it easier and cheaper for them to do just that. Just click on Ticket Offers and go!'
Booking on 21 November, some examples of deals available are:
Manchester to London for a theatre matinee. A round trip for eight from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston on Thursday 9 January costs £25.20 a head. (Departing at 1035, returning at 2000).
From Coventry to the Lakes for a walking weekend. A round trip for four from Coventry to Oxenholme Lake District, leaving on Thursday 23 January (0742) and returning on Sunday 26 January (1744) costs £36.00 a head.
Bookings can be made online at http://www.virgintrains.com, at Virgin Trains' stations or by calling 0871 977 4222
Notes to Editors
Visit our Media Room website - http://www.virgintrains.com/mediaroom - for the latest news, press releases and the company factsheet. To receive our content live, as and when we publish it, you can sign up to follow us. Go to Follow Virgin Trains and click on 'Create account'. You can view stakeholder news in the latest edition of The Red Letter at http://www.virgintrains.newsweaver.com/newsletter.
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 (Spring 2013) overall satisfaction was 92%, equalling our best ever score from the previous survey (Autumn 2012).
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 2013 Virgin Trains renewed it accreditation against the criteria of the European Foundation for Quality Management's (EFQM) Excellence Model, which it originally achieved in May 2011 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.com/mediaroom.
For further media information contact the Virgin Trains Press Office on 0845-000-3333 or visit our Media Room website at http://www.virgintrains.com/mediaroom
Share this article