Press release -
Virgin Trains offers first vegan-friendly train menu in UK
- Vegan option included in both First and Standard from morning to evening
- Vegan Society calls on other train operators to follow Virgin’s lead
- Comes as menu revamp delivers more fresh, locally sourced ingredients onboard
Virgin Trains has been praised by campaigners after becoming the UK’s first train operator to offer a full vegan menu for all its customers on all services.
Passengers can now choose from a range of vegan-friendly options at nearly all times of day following a revamp of its onboard Shop and First Class menus*.
The move, which has been welcomed by the Vegan Society, comes in response to the growing number of people who have chosen to go vegan or simply reduce the amount of meat and dairy in their diet.
As well as ensuring a vegan option is consistently available, Virgin Trains has also clearly labelled its First and Standard class menus to help identify vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options. And the onboard Shop in Standard and First Class kitchens are now routinely stocked with soya as an alternative to cows’ milk.
Virgin Trains is also working to increase the amount of locally-sourced food served onboard its trains and to include more fresh ingredients in its meals.
Julie Harper, Virgin Trains’ Food & Beverage Proposition Manager, said she was proud to offer vegan customers peace of mind when boarding the train. “The clear message we’ve had from vegan customers is they need consistency so they have peace of mind when they board the train. We’ve worked really hard to ensure that our menus in First and Standard deliver that consistency throughout the day and include some really delicious, appetising options that we hope will tempt vegans and non-vegans alike.”
Louise Davies, Head of Campaigns, Policy and Research at The Vegan Society, said: “We’ve been campaigning for decent vegan options on trains over the last few months and it's great to see Virgin respond with a menu that anyone can enjoy. Market trends are showing a rapid growth in plant-based eating. We hope that others will follow Virgin's lead and take notice of the power of the vegan pound.”
Options for vegans in the Virgin Trains Shop currently includes a vegan breakfast pot complete with mushrooms, hash browns, spinach and baked beans, or vegan chilli in the evening. Its First Class menus now include items such as a potato hash breakfast, Mediterranean pasta salad and spicy Bombay potato.
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About Virgin Trains
Stagecoach and Virgin are working in partnership to operate the West Coast inter-city route under the Virgin Trains brand, revolutionising travel on one of the UK’s key rail arteries.
The network connects some of the nation’s most iconic destinations including Glasgow, Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester 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 ahead of other long-distance rail franchise operators in the National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS) commissioned by industry watchdog, Transport Focus.
Virgin Trains has a proud record of challenging the status quo - from introducing tilting Pendolino trains, to a pioneering automated delay repay scheme, introducing the industry-leading onboard entertainment streaming service, BEAM, and becoming the first franchised rail operator to offer m-Tickets for all ticket types.
Virgin Trains operated the East Coast route between March 1, 2015 and June 24, 2018. In that time, we invested £75m to create a more personalised travel experience, including over £40m in the existing fleet. Customers have benefitted from 48 additional services between Edinburgh and London every week, and an extra 22 Saturday services between Leeds and London – a total of 1.74 million additional seats since May 2015.
Working together, the partnership railway of the public and private sectors has published a long-term plan, called In Partnership for Britain’s Prosperity, to change and improve Britain’s railway. The plan will secure almost £85bn of additional economic benefits to the country whilst enabling further investment and improvement, and contains four commitments which will see rail companies: strengthen our economic contribution to the country; improve customers’ satisfaction; boost the communities we serve; and, create more and better jobs in rail. For more information go to Britain Runs on Rail.
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