Christmas and New Year travel on Virgin Trains

Customers wishing to travel on Virgin Trains West Coast and CrossCountry services in the run up to and during the Christmas and New Year holiday are urged to reserve their seats in advance where possible to enjoy a comfortable journey at this very busy time.

Apart from Christmas Day and Boxing Day, Virgin Trains will run throughout the holiday, although essential engineering work will affect some services. Customers are advised to check travel details in advance with National Rail Enquiries on 08457 48 49 50, or at http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/.

Complimentary seat reservations when buying tickets for most Virgin West Coast and Virgin CrossCountry services are now available for weekday travel until 2 March. Most Saturday services on Virgin West Coast are now open for reservation up to 20 January, and Sunday services until 14 January. Most Virgin CrossCountry Saturday services are open for reservation up to 6 January and Sunday services until 7 January.

The Virgin Weekend Upgrade for First Class travel may be booked from Saturday 23 December 2006 until Monday 1 January 2007 inclusive, and use of Saver tickets will be unrestricted from 11:00 on Friday 22 December until Monday 1 January. Also, restrictions on use of Saver tickets will be waived on Friday afternoons from 15 December until 26 January.

Christmas menus on Pendolino services will be available from Wednesday 13 to Friday 15 December and from Monday18 to Friday 22 December. Pendolino Primo services will also feature a seasonal menu, but the Primo menu will not be available on Friday 22 December. From Wednesday 27 to Friday 29 December, an at-seat service of snacks and drinks will be available in First Class and on other days over the holiday period, complimentary tea, coffee and biscuits will be available to First Class ticket holders from the onboard Shop.

From Monday 18 December, children aged from five to 12 travelling during the holiday period will be offered free Kidz Bags containing magazines with puzzles, competitions and articles, as well as books and activities to keep them entertained during their journeys.

Boarding queue controls will be in place on Virgin West Coast services leaving London Euston from 09:00 until 19:30 from Thursday 21 December until Sunday 24 December, and customers holding seat reservations will be given priority.

To ensure a comfortable journey, customers are advised to buy Virgin Value Advance tickets and Virgin Weekend Upgrades as early as possible and to take advantage of the complimentary seat reservations. These tickets are subject to availability.