Virgin Trains is Best in Class

LONDON, January 26, 2011 - Virgin Trains has once again topped the performance league among
companies operating long-distance rail franchisees.

The rail watchdog Passenger Focus carries out large-scale independent
research across the industry twice a year. Continuing an upward trend, 90% of
Virgin Trains passengers were 'satisfied' or 'very satisfied' with the
overall service they received. This is the highest score any long-distance
franchisee has achieved in the last nine surveys, and matches a table-topping
90% in the last survey.

On the other key marker of 'Value for Money' Virgin Trains extended the
lead it has held for eight of the last nine surveys, topping the table with
65%, a full five percentage points ahead of the nearest long-distance
franchisee.

Virgin Trains' Chief Executive Officer Tony Collins said: "Six years ago
we carried 14 million passengers. Last year 28 million people chose to travel
with us. That's because we have a winning combination at Virgin Trains. We
have state-of-the-art trains and the best staff in the business. These
outstanding satisfaction ratings are a fantastic tribute to Virgin Trains'
people, those who work for our train partners Alstom and Bombardier, and
those at Network Rail who maintain our routes. We want to continue delivering
the high quality services passengers have come to expect, so we'll be putting
in a strong and innovative bid to run the next franchise, which runs from
2012 to 2026."

Notes to Editors:

There have been nine surveys conducted by Passenger Focus
since it re-categorised which operating companies should be classed as
long-distance operators. The full results of the latest national survey can
be found here: www.passengerfocus.org.uk/nps

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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 recognised in numerous industry awards. In 2010
the company has been named Best Rail Operator of the Year at the Travel Globe
Awards (voted for by readers of the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and Evening
Standard), and Best Rail Operator in the Group Leisure Awards (which we also
won in 2009). In 2009 we were also voted Best UK Domestic Train Service by
Business Traveller magazine for the second year running. Virgin Trains first
achieved Investors In People accreditation in 2007 and this was renewed in
2010; the IIP Gold award was achieved in 2011.

For further information contact the Virgin Trains Press Office on +44(0)845 000-3333