Press release -
Virgin Trains supports prestigious TV awards
Two of television’s best-loved shows picked up prizes at the Royal Television Society North East and the Border Awards, which was supported by Virgin Trains.
ITV’s long-running detective series Vera starring Brenda Blethyn won the big-budget drama award. While CBBC’s The Dumping Ground – which focuses on the lives of young people in care – picked up best drama in the lower budget category, both awards were sponsored by Virgin Trains on the east coast route.
Brenda Blethyn and the cast of The Dumping Ground – CBBC’s most popular drama – were on hand to accept their awards at the ceremony, which was hosted by BBC Breakfast’s Steph McGovern.
More than 400 guests and celebrities attended the event which showcases the best of television and digital media production from Cumbria and the Scottish Borders in the North to Teesside and North Yorkshire in the South.
As part of the event Virgin Trains showcased the new-look train interiors now rolling-out on its fleet of trains which includes leather seats and mood-lighting in First Class. The trophies for best drama awards were commissioned by Virgin Trains and specially created by the National Glass Centre in Sunderland.
Virgin Trains on the east coast route launched a new weekday service between Sunderland and London King’s Cross on 14 December 2015.
Topics
- Public Transport
Categories
- awards
- sponsorships
- regional news
- east coast
Regions
- England
About Virgin Trains East Coast
Virgin Trains East Coast is the brand name of InterCity Railways Ltd (ICR), which is owned by Stagecoach Group (90%) and Virgin Group (10%). Virgin Trains East Coast began operating services on the East Coast Main Line on 1 March 2015, serving key UK cities including London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Leeds, York, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness. In November 2014 the Department for Transport awarded ICR a new franchise until at least 31 March 2023.
Virgin Trains East Coast is committed to delivering a high speed, high quality service with new services, faster and more frequent journeys, more comfortable travel and excellent customer service. More than £140m is to be invested in delivering improved service and a more personalised travel experience for customers.
Visit the Virgin Trains East Coast Media Centre at: http://www.virgintrainseastcoast.com/media-centre for the latest news and images.
Contact the Virgin Trains Press Office: press.desk@virgintrains.co.uk or call us on 0845 000 3333.
About Virgin Trains
Virgin Trains is the brand name of Virgin Rail Group (VRG), which is owned by Virgin Group (51%) and Stagecoach (49%). Virgin Trains has operated the West Coast passenger train franchise since 1997, serving key UK cities including London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow. In June 2014 the Department for Transport (DfT) awarded VRG a new franchise until at least April 2017.
Virgin Trains is committed to delivering a high speed, high frequency service, offering shorter journey times, more comfortable travel and excellent customer service. We provide the most frequent long-distance rail service in Europe (London - Manchester and London – Birmingham, both every 20 minutes).
Since 1997, Virgin Trains has introduced over 70 new trains at a cost of £1.5 billion. The service carries more than 34.5 million passengers a year and Virgin Trains employs approximately 3,290 staff.
Virgin Trains customers consistently rate the company as one of the top long-distance rail franchise operators in the National Passenger Survey (NPS) commissioned by industry watchdog “Passenger Focus”.
Visit the Virgin Trains Media Room - www.virgintrains.co.uk/mediaroom - for the latest news, images and videos. Subscribe here for regular news from Virgin Trains.
Press Office: 0845 000 3333. Company website: www.virgintrains.co.uk.
