Virgin Trains commits £50m to service improvements

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Virgin Trains founder Richard Branson has announced that the operator will invest £50 million to improve services on the West Coast main line.

In June, Virgin was awarded an extension allowing it to retain control of the West Coast franchise until 2017 following negotiations with the Department for Transport (DfT).

Between now and the April 2017, the operator has said it plans to introduce new services to Shrewsbury and Blackpool, improve the current Wi-Fi service and create 5,500 extra standard class seats daily by converting one first class carriages on 21 trains.

Following a consultation with passengers, the operator has also promised to improve its pre-boarding procedure. 

In a statement on the Virgin website, Richard Branson said: “We don’t just want to meet customer expectations, we want to exceed them.

“And that’s why we’re committing to go further than any other train operator, to create an unparalleled on-board experience for our customers. Our customers told us what would make their journeys with us even better and we listened.”

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