Press release -
Virgin Trains celebrates Burns Night
"Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat and we can eat,
Sae let the Lord be thankit.”
Selkirk Grace
We at Virgin Trains are always up for a reason to celebrate, and with Scotland gearing up for an exciting year, we’re giving a nod to our Scottish friends by celebrating Burns Night on Friday 24 January 2014.
If you are travelling on one of our Anglo-Scottish services departing London, Glasgow or Preston between 17:00 to 19:00, you will be offered a Burns Night supper consisting of Haggis, Tatties and Neeps and a gift box containing a 5cl bottle of 18-year-old Glenfiddich in addition to the regular diner offer.
Rob Taylor, On Board Product Development Manager, said: “With our ever growing link to Scotland, we thought it would be great to celebrate Burns Night. Since the celebration falls on a Saturday, we decided to offer our customers travelling on the Anglo-Scottish route on Burns Night eve an appetiser for their weekend of celebrations.”
To celebrate the great poet in true Scottish style, customers boarding Anglo-Scottish services at London Euston will be given a musical send-off by a piper who will be playing a selection of Scottish favourites from 16:30 until 18:00.
Topics
- Literature
Regions
- England
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Virgin Trains has revolutionised rail travel by creating a high speed, high frequency service that has cut journey times and made rail journeys more comfortable. It has operated the West Coast passenger train franchise since 1997, serving key UK cities including London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Preston and Glasgow.
Virgin Trains is the brand name of Virgin Rail Group (VRG), which is owned 51 percent by Virgin Group and 49 percent by Stagecoach. The Department for Transport (DfT) has awarded VRG a franchise contract, which started on 9 December 2012 and was initially due to run for up to 23 months. The Transport Secretary announced on 26 March 2013 that it will be extended until April 2017, when a new long-term West Coast franchise is expected to start..
Virgin Trains has been recognised in numerous awards. In October 2013 Business Traveller magazine readers voted the company the Best UK Domestic Rail Operator for the seventh year running. In 2011 the company was named Best Rail Operator in the Group Leisure Awards (which it also won in 2009 and 2010). In 2011 Virgin Trains won the British Quality Foundation's Achievement Award for Customer Satisfaction.
Customers consistently rate the company the top long-distance rail franchise operator, as measured by the National Passenger Survey (NPS) run by industry watchdog Passenger Focus. In the most recent NPS (Autumn 2013) overall satisfaction was 91%, meaning the company has remained unbeaten over nine successive surveys in the long-distance franchise category.
Virgin Trains first achieved Investors In People accreditation in 2007 and this was renewed in 2010; the IIP Gold award was achieved in 2011 and again in October 2013. In May 2013 Virgin Trains renewed its accreditation against the criteria of the European Foundation for Quality Management's (EFQM) Excellence Model, which it originally achieved in May 2011. The company’s Learning and Development team won a National Training Awards 2011 West Midlands award for its Coaching Culture programme.
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