It’s been a busy end to the year here at Virgin Trains. With the festive season now fully upon us, we wanted to thank you for travelling with us this year.
We are proud of the team’s achievements and milestones we have reached in 2018. Our multimillion-pound investment has continued to transform the West Coast route – introducing new services, thousands more seats and abolishing Friday peak fares at London Euston. Other industry-first innovations include the roll out of our digital season ticket and journey bookings through Amazon Alexa.
Bucking industry trends, we have been delighted to see passenger growth across the length and breadth of the West Coast route. We broke new records for passengers travelling between the West Midlands and London, as well as increasing journeys to Scotland. For the first time ever, we carried more passengers to Liverpool from the capital, than the other way around.
Improvements are set to continue next year following our new partnership with West Midlands Rail Executive and Transport for West Midlands (TfWM). We have signed a new deal pledging to work together to improve rail journeys in the region, focusing on the greater use of sustainable transport to and from our stations at Coventry, Birmingham International, Rugby, Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford.
Our focus is on delivering the best possible experience for our passengers and the communities that we serve across the country. I’m proud of our work with the many Community Rail Partnerships in the region over the past year, including our first annual Community Rail Conference in Crewe.
These successes are the result of the dedication of our talented staff, and I’m thrilled that their efforts have been recognised at the recent RailStaff Awards, picking up the awards for Rail Safety Team of The Year and Training Team of The Year.
As you may have seen during your travel with us this Christmas, we have been spreading messages of kindness in partnership with our charity partner, Rethink Mental Illness. We have painted the script of Frank Capra’s iconic 1946 festive film ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ on station platforms in 14 locations from London to Glasgow. This initiative is in recognition of how difficult the festive period can be for some, and the positive impact that simple acts of kindness can have.
Looking ahead to 2019, HS2 works will start in earnest and we will work closely with our industry partners to keep the region moving.
As ever, thank you for your feedback and support and we look forward to welcoming you on board our services next year.
