Virgin Trains: Celebrating 20 years on the track

Virgin Trains is celebrating its 20^th year on the West Coast Route this month and will be holding a number of celebrations to mark the occasion.

Since its maiden voyage in 1997, which was unveiled by Sir Richard Branson at London Euston, passenger journeys have grown to 37 million a year and passengers have been served over five million English breakfasts whilst travelling a combined total of nearly 335 million miles.

The first ever Virgin Train was named ‘Mission: Impossible’, after suggestions that the job could not be done, and since then the fleet has grown to 76 trains serving 49 stations.

During that time, Virgin Trains has had many key moments including:

• First timetabled 125mph Pendolino models (tilting trains) introduced to the UK on the West Coast in 2004
• High Frequency timetable introduced in 2008, increasing services and reducing journey times
• New 11-car Pendolinos introduced to accommodate growing passenger numbers in 2012
• Hourly services introduced between London and Scotland in 2013

“We’re proud to have been at the forefront of innovating British train travel for the last 20 years,” said Phil Whittingham, MD for Virgin Trains West Coast. “Since taking over the franchise, we’ve transformed the West Coast and made it one of the most popular lines in Europe. We have constantly and consistently challenged the status quo, and sought to lead the way in the rail industry by introducing new services and initiatives that benefit passengers.”

Virgin Trains is celebrating the occasion by hosting a ‘pop-up musical performance’ at London Euston and sharing red velvet birthday cup cakes with Virgin passengers on-board and at key stations along the route including London Euston, Manchester Piccadilly and Birmingham New Street. Further celebrations will continue throughout March with the introduction of five films (that are also 20 years old) onto Virgin Trains’ free onboard content service, BEAM.