Press release -
Myleene adds a touch of Klass to Virgin Trains’ stylish new fleet
- Myleene Klass surprises King’s Cross commuters with a performance on a baby grand piano
- The classically trained pianist enjoyed a glass of prosecco with customers on-board the train
- Celebrations marked the completion of Virgin Trains £40m investment in upgrading its train fleet – which has seen nearly 25,000 new seats installed
Myleene Klass brought a touch of class to celebrations at London King’s Cross Station to mark the completion of Virgin Trains’ ‘total rehaul’ of its east coast fleet. The classically trained musician dazzled surprised commuters with a live performance on a baby grand piano before joining customers on board the inaugural journey of the final train to receive a stylish makeover.
The moment marks the completion of a £40 million investment by Virgin Trains in its entire fleet of east coast trains, which included luxurious leather seats and mood lighting in First Class, stunning red cloth seats in Standard, and new carpets and stylish fittings throughout. A total of 410 coach interiors have been revamped and 24,427 seats replaced, adding extra comfort for customers. Another £100m of investment is still to come around stations and technology.
David Horne, Managing Director at Virgin Trains on the east coast, said: “Since we launched services on the east coast in 2015 we have committed more than £40 million to improving our existing fleet, to give our customers the best possible experience when they travel with us. It gives me great pleasure to announce that we have completed our refurbishment programme, and passed another milestone on our journey towards totally transforming travel for our customers on the east coast. We’re absolutely delighted that Myleene was able to join us for this special day and help make it even more memorable.”
Topics
- Art, Culture, Entertainment
Categories
- east coast
- events & launches
- fun stuff
- routes & stations
- trains
- business news
About Virgin Trains:
Stagecoach and Virgin are working in partnership to operate the East Coast and West Coast inter-city routes under the Virgin Trains brand. Together, they are on track to revolutionise rail travel across the UK.
The combined network connects some of the nation’s most iconic destinations including Glasgow, Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leeds, York and London.
Virgin Trains is committed to delivering a high speed, high frequency service, offering shorter journey times, more comfortable travel and excellent customer service. Customers consistently rate Virgin Trains as one of the top long-distance rail franchise operators in the National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS) commissioned by industry watchdog, Transport Focus.
On the East Coast route, £140m is being invested to create a more personalised travel experience. We have already invested £21m to completely revamp our existing fleet and customers can now benefit from 42 additional services (22,000 extra seats) per week between Edinburgh and London. 2018 will see the introduction of completely new Azuma trains being built in the UK by Hitachi.
The West Coast route has a proud record of challenging the status quo - from introducing tilting Pendolino trains, to a pioneering automated delay repay scheme and becoming the first franchised rail operator to offer m-Tickets for all ticket types.
Visit the Virgin Trains Media Room - virgintrains.co.uk/about/media-room - for the latest news, images and videos. Subscribe here for regular news from Virgin Trains.
Press Office: 0845 000 3333.
