Virgin Trains has a double celebration as 400 million customer journeys are recorded and its right to operate the important West Coast service is extended by 6 months.
Friday 3rd July 2015 marked a special day in Virgin Trains’ history as it exceeded 400 million customer journeys. The major milestone was reached in superfast time with record numbers now travelling on the West Coast Main Line.
Virgin Trains were hoping for a 12 month extension from March 2017, which is now anticipated to finish at the end of March 2017, after which the Department for Transport will publish a tender inviting operators to bid for the service.
However, 49% shareholder Stagecoach is hoping that the DfE will exercise the discretion that it has to extend the contract, on pre-agreed terms, by one additional year to March 31, 2018.
Since taking over the route in 1997, Virgin Trains has worked hard to transform services on the key long distance line leading to a surge in rail popularity that has seen passenger figures more than double to 34.5m in the last twelve months.