Virgin Trains Welcomes Office of Rail Regulation Action on Poor Network Rail Performance

LONDON - We welcome Network Rail and the Office of Rail Regulation’s acknowledgement of the unsatisfactory performance on the West Coast Main Line, which is vindication of the warnings we have given both organisations over the last three years.

We are disappointed that NR have spent GBP9 billion on the “upgrade” to deliver the worst performing route on the rail network today. This is an unacceptable position for our customers.

The key now is to address the many failings urgently. We welcome ORR determination to take action if NR fails to deliver a credible plan for improved performance. We would expect to see that any plan which is proposed delivers a sustained improvement to at least the level of performance expected when Network Rail planned the upgrade.

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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.

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Source: Virgin Trains

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