A RED HOT START – AND MUCH MORE TO COME!

We’re adding the WOW factor to train travel – and thanks to you, this is just the beginning!

Virgin Trains East Coast today (Monday 1st September 2015) publishes its second ‘Red Report’, a twice-yearly round-up of progress and a look ahead to the exciting next steps on its journey to revolutionise customer service between London, the East Midlands, Yorkshire, North East England and Scotland.

In its first six months since launching on March 1st 2015, Virgin Trains East Coast has:

• CUT THE COST OF TRAVEL – by reducing Standard Anytime fares on long distance journeys to and from London by 10% - and by launching a bargain seat sale with tickets from just £8.50
• PAINTED THE TRAINS RED – with a huge rebrand of its trains in the unmistakable Virgin red
• MADE A CLEAN SWEEP – a £21 million upgrade is underway, bringing a deep clean to every train, with new carpets and seat covers, and a sparkling new look to train toilets – flushed with success!
• SWITCHED ON TO AIRTIME – face to face meetings with directors and senior managers under the ‘Airtime’ initiative have begun to gather vital customer feedback – including a live session on-board a peak-time Leeds to London train
• GOT THE MESSAGE – improved the way we communicate with our customers on social media – including real-time train running information via Twitter
• HIT THE VIRGIN WAY – trained more than 1,700 staff on lots of new ways to delightfully surprise customers old and new
• MOVED CLOSER TO YOU – launched a Community Ambassadors scheme to develop closer links between our people and the places we serve.

David Horne, Virgin Trains East Coast Managing Director, said: “It’s been a busy first six months and we’ve put in some serious train miles – more than six million in fact. We’ve also been focusing on how we can improve our customers’ experience of booking and travelling with us.

“When our customers travel with a Virgin company they expect high standards of service – it’s what we’re known for after all. We’ve already brought in many new products and improvements, and there’s much more on the way – and the highlights are in this new Red Report.

“We want to be Britain’s best train operator – and we can only do it with feedback on what we do and how we do it. If any of our customers would like to share thoughts about their journey, I’d genuinely love to hear about it – please email us at customers@virgintrainseastcoast.com or call 03457 225333.”

Virgin Trains East Coast has exciting plans to deliver red hot service to customers – with highlights included in its new Red Report, including:

• RELAXING IN STYLE – major facelifts on the way for all First Class Lounges on the route
• INFORMATION ACROSS THE NATION – improved Customer Information Points at various stations, and brand-new Customer Information Offices at Durham, Doncaster and Grantham stations
• JUST THE TICKET – replacing all 111 ticket machines across its network, and adding 50 more by June 2016 – making buying and picking up tickets a breeze
• FULL OF BEANS – a complete revamp of on-board service in Standard and First Class, featuring new bean-to-cup coffee
• IT’S IN THE BAG – launching ‘luggage hubs’ to provide secure baggage storage areas on long-distance London to Scotland services
• WE’RE IN THE ZONE – new Customer Zones at all stations to make it easier for customers to talk with our staff and buy tickets for their next journey.

Copies of Virgin Trains East Coast’s Red Report can be picked up from stations on its network or downloaded from its website here: https://www.virgintrainseastcoast.com/about-us/communicating-openly-with-customers/#TheRedReport