New Virgin Trains’ timetable brings boost to Scotland

08 December 2008

More trains and faster journey times are the key ingredients of the new Virgin Trains’ timetable from 14 December, details of which were announced today.

Accelerations along the West Coast Mainline from Scotland will range from five minutes to one hour. There will be four more trains each way daily to give 13 from Glasgow Central to London Euston and 13 back, new earlier departures from Glasgow Central to London and Birmingham and faster journeys from Edinburgh (Waverley and Haymarket) and Glasgow Central to Birmingham New Street.

Journey times from Glasgow to London Euston will come down for most trains by more than 40 minutes to give a typical 4h 32 schedule. Fastest timing will be 4h 21. When a second phase of the timetable comes in on 26 January, the best schedule from London to Glasgow will be just 4h 10.

The first train of the day to London at 04:25 from Glasgow will be 90 minutes earlier than today’s first. The last Glasgow train of the day from London at 19:30 will leave 82 minutes later than today’s last time.

Journeys from Edinburgh and Glasgow to Birmingham New Street through Cumbria, Lancashire and Cheshire will be around a quarter of an hour faster than now in most cases. The biggest accelerations will be more than half an hour. Typical times to Birmingham will be 4h 03 from Edinburgh and 3h 55 from Glasgow. A new departure at 05:50 from Glasgow Central to Birmingham will be almost two hours earlier than the current first train.

Tony Collins, Virgin Rail Group’s CEO, said today: “The new West Coast timetable represents a huge opportunity for the industry following the £9bn upgrade by Network Rail. More seats and dramatically reduced journey times are huge wins for passengers but quite rightly we will all be judged on how well this railway will perform. The successful running of Europe’s busiest main line railway is going to be a huge challenge for the train operators and Network Rail and, during the first few months as the timetable beds in, passengers’ expectations may not always be fulfilled. I believe however that within six months we shall have a railway of which the nation can truly be proud.”

Lesley Sawers, Chief Executive of the Scottish Council for Development & Industry, said: “Greater business and consumer choice, and better connectivity between Scotland and our biggest markets south of the border are essential to Scotland’s economic growth.

“Faster journeys between central Glasgow and London will therefore be a real benefit to business and tourism, as will opportunities that are opened up by faster rail journeys from Edinburgh and Glasgow to Birmingham, serving several English centres on the way."

Four Virgin Trains a day from Glasgow to English destinations will continue to call at Motherwell, with a best time to London Euston of 4h 19, some 38 minutes less than the current best. Two evening arrivals from Euston will help day-return opportunities for Motherwell passengers with business in London.

To provide opportunities for return journeys out and back the same day, Lockerbie will have a new early morning direct train to London with two back in the evening instead of one. The 0726 from Lockerbie will be timed to London in 3h 46, compared to 4h 12 by today’s 11:14. At times of day when there are no direct trains there will be good connections for Lockerbie/London passengers, changing between First TransPennine Express and Virgin Trains, usually at Carlisle.

Summary of principal changes

Glasgow Central to London Euston

Hourly trains for most of the day, generally at 40 minutes past the hour.
Opportunity for first time to spend more than ten hours in London but still get there and back by train from Glasgow the same day.

A fast 11:40 from Glasgow Central in 4h 23 calling at Carlisle, Penrith North Lakes and Preston only.

A fast 13:40 from Glasgow Central in 4h 21 calling at Carlisle, Oxenholme Lake District and Preston only (five minutes faster than today’s best, which calls at Carlisle and Preston only).
A typical time of 4h 32, calling at Carlisle, Penrith or Oxenholme, Lancaster, Preston, Wigan and Warrington. Today’s equivalent is 5h 16 with four more intermediate stops.

Glasgow / Edinburgh to Birmingham New Street
* Trains will operate hourly to Birmingham New Street, alternating from Edinburgh or Glasgow. All services will call at Carlisle, Preston, Wigan, Warrington, Crewe and Wolverhampton. Calls at Penrith, Oxenholme and Lancaster will be shared among these trains.

* Southbound services depart from Edinburgh at two hourly intervals at xx:52 (even hours) from Waverley and xx:57 from Haymarket, and from Glasgow Central at approximately two hourly intervals generally on the even hours at xx:00.

* These trains will have much better connections than now with CrossCountry Trains for stations to the South West and South Coast (in many cases it will be more convenient to change at Wolverhampton than Birmingham New Street).

Cheapest fares reduced
To celebrate the start of the new timetable, prices of the cheapest Advance tickets have been slashed from 14 December. Single fares from Glasgow and Motherwell to London are reduced from £18.50 to £12.00, and from Lockerbie to London from £17.50 to £11.50. Fares from Glasgow, Motherwell and Edinburgh to Birmingham are reduced from £18.00 to £10.50.

These prices are not being increased in January.

More information

Route guides can be viewed or downloaded at virgintrains.com and free printed copies of the guides are available at any station served by Virgin Trains.

Individual journey details for travel from 14 December can be checked by visiting nationalrail.co.uk or by calling 08457 48 49 50.