All Virgin Trains Services now Open for Booking During Christmas and New Year

LONDON - Book early for Christmas and New Year travel is the message from Virgin Trains to ensure that customers obtain seats on the trains of their choice at the cheapest rates.

Restrictions on Off Peak tickets will be lifted from 24 December to 3 January inclusive while Advance tickets are currently on sale for all travel days during the holiday period.

Full details of train times at Christmas and New Year are now available on nationalrail.co.uk while tickets and seats can be booked on virgintrains.com or by calling +44-(0)8457-222-333.

The general pattern of service through the holiday period is as follows:

December 24th: Normal Thursday service. Services reduced from early evening in preparation for a mid-evening shutdown.

December 25th and 26th: No service.

December 27th: Normal Sunday service. Some early morning trains withdrawn. Full service from mid morning. Wilmslow will be served by rail replacement coach services all day because of route improvement work.

December 28th: Normal Monday service. Wilmslow will be served by rail replacement coach services all day because of route improvement work.

December 29th and 30th: Normal weekday service.

December 31st: Normal Thursday service. Services reduced from early evening in preparation for a mid-evening shutdown.

January 1st: Some early morning services withdrawn. Normal weekday service from mid morning.

January 2nd and 3rd: Normal Saturday and Sunday services. No route improvement work.

January 4th onwards: Normal weekday service.

On the weekend of 19/20 December route improvement work will be taking place between Lockerbie and Carstairs. This will mean that from 11:30 on the Saturday Euston to Glasgow services will terminate at Carlisle and Birmingham to Glasgow/Edinburgh services will terminate at Lockerbie. Replacement coaches will run between Carlisle and Glasgow and between Lockerbie and Edinburgh. On the Sunday all services will terminate at Carlisle with replacement coaches from Carlisle to Edinburgh and Glasgow. The route will re-open at 14:30.

Notes to Editors

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Virgin Trains is the brand name of Virgin Rail Group. We have operated the West Coast passenger train franchise since 1997; the current franchise runs to March 2012.

Virgin Rail Group is owned 51 percent by Virgin Group and 49 percent by Stagecoach.

Virgin Trains has been voted Best Rail Company by Travel Weekly magazine. In 2009 the company was voted Best UK Domestic Train Service by Business Traveller magazine for the second year running.

Virgin Trains has been awarded the Global Travel Awards 2009 ‘Best Rail Operator’ Category as voted by Evening Standard readers.

Source: Virgin Trains

For further media information contact the Virgin Trains Press Office on +44-(0)845-000-3333 or visit our Media Room website at https://mediaroom.virgintrains.co.uk