Sir Richard Branson’s 2020 Vision for the West Coast Main Line

LONDON - With Photo

A way forward for the UK’s busiest long distance rail route to meet ever increasing passenger and freight demands was today mapped out by Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin group of companies.

Among the initiatives that could happen within the next decade are:

- Journey times of under 60 minutes between London and Birmingham - Construction of an underground extension to Birmingham International station with a direct link from there to the West Coast Main Line at Lichfield using the existing M6 corridor - Journey times of under 4 hours between London and Glasgow - Link the West Coast Main Line at its southern end with both Heathrow and HS1 to Europe - Strip down and modernise crumbling stations and replace them with fit for purpose buildings that work efficiently for rail passengers and can be a source of pride to the local community.

Sir Richard explained that all of this would be possible within a partnership with Government that allowed for the following:

- longer rail franchises of between 20 and 30 years that were linked to past performance and future investments - Engage and encourage private sector investment - Deliver an effective regulatory system of Network Rail - Evaluate the environmental benefits, and economic gains to the English regions, Scotland and Wales as part of any investment case - Bridge the gap between franchise length and asset life to reflect the whole life benefits of investments.

Within this partnership with Government, train operating companies would play a much larger role in:

- Timetable developments - Rolling stock specification and procurement - Station developments - New route development - A source of funding.

Speaking at today’s press conference at London’s Euston station Sir Richard said:

“We are running 21st century high-speed trains through 19th century stations. For example, Crewe, Preston and Carlisle are basically great Victorian buildings crumbling away. We need to have 21st century stations. We would like the new franchises to be given control of stations so that the train operators can be incentivised to modernise them.”

Turning to trains and track, Sir Richard continued: “With a GBP1bn investment we could, within 3 to 5 years, see our trains running at 140mph with reductions in journey times between London and all West Coast destinations. What we are asking is that the Government re-thinks the franchise situation to give train operators the opportunity to invest, grow the rail business and lessen the burden on taxpayers.”

Virgin Trains Media Information

Images of Virgin Trains and the company’s operations are available on our online media website www.virgintrainsmediaroom.com. You will need to register to access the Media Resources section containing high-resolution images of our operations.

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 listed as the Best Train Operator in a survey by the Institute of Customer ; voted Best Rail Company by Travel Weekly magazine; Best UK Domestic Train Service by Business Traveler magazine and favorite train operator by readers of the London Evening Standard. Virgin Trains won the coveted ‘Onboard Award’ from Cost Sector Catering for the Best of British First Class Menu, introduced as part of VHF.

Note to Editors:

A picture accompanying this release is available through the PA Photowire. It can be downloaded from www.pa-mediapoint.press.net or viewed at www.mediapoint.press.net or www.prnewswire.co.uk.

Source: Virgin Trains

For further information contact the Virgin Trains Press Office on +44(0)845-000-3333 or Ken Gibbs, Ken.Gibbs at virgintrains.co.uk