Rail passengers ‘to benefit’ from Virgin securing West Coast service
Virgin has promised £35 million worth of passenger benefits as it wins the contract to continue running the West Coast Main Line service to Glasgow.
The benefits will include an additional 5,500 standard-class seats each day, with Virgin converting 21 first-class carriages to standard class.
The train operator will also invest more than £20 million in modernising stations and improving waiting rooms, seats and shelters says the Government.
Free wi-fi will be offered at stations and improved coverage provided across the entire fleet.
The contract has been awarded for a further two years and nine months.
Virgin will now also start work to secure new direct services between Shrewsbury, Blackpool and London from December, reports the BBC.
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: "This deal will provide thousands more seats and better journeys for the tens of thousands of passengers who use these services every day."
The franchise award comes two years after Virgin launched a legal challenge to the decision by the Department for Transport (DfT) to award a 13-year franchise for the West Coast Main Line to First Group.
The government eventually scrapped the award claiming there were "significant technical flaws" in the bidding process because of mistakes by DfT staff. Three civil servants were suspended.
Virgin has operated trains services on the West Coast Main Line since 1997.
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