New Virgin Trains’ timetable brings faster journeys for Lancaster, Preston, Wigan and Warrington

08 December 2008

Faster journey times feature in the new Virgin Trains’ timetable from 14 December, details of which were announced today.

Journey times for most trains to London Euston from Lancaster, Preston, Wigan North Western and Warrington Bank Quay will be cut by more than 20 minutes.

Faster journeys to London will include typical schedules of 2h 34 from Lancaster, 2h 14 from Preston, 2h 03 from Wigan North Western and 1h 52 from Warrington Bank Quay. The fastest train of the day from Preston will be timed to London in 2h 08.

Schedules will also be faster to Glasgow and Edinburgh, including times such as 2h 20 from Preston to Glasgow Central and 2h 44 from Wigan North Western to Edinburgh. A few minutes will also be trimmed from timings to Birmingham New Street.

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.”

Steven Broomhead, Chief Executive of the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), said: “The West Coast Mainline is a strategic link within the Northwest's public transport system and these improvements will bring significant business and tourism benefits.

"An efficient public transport system is vital for achieving and securing economic growth, and this is excellent news for the whole Northwest region."

Summary of principal changes

Lancaster, Preston, Wigan North Western and Warrington Bank Quay to London Euston
Hourly trains mainly 23 minutes faster than today’s equivalents, non-stop south of Warrington (today’s equivalents usually have three intermediate stops south of Warrington – in future passengers will use Birmingham trains to Crewe).

Typical departure times at xx:38 from Lancaster, xx:58 from Preston, xx:09 from Wigan North Western and xx:20 from Warrington Bank Quay for most of the day.

In addition to this pattern, non-stop trains from Preston at 13:53 and 15:53 to London in 2h 10 and 2h 08 respectively, the latter five minutes faster than today’s best.

The last train back from London to Preston will leave Euston at 21:10, 24 minutes later than now, also serving Warrington Bank Quay and Wigan North Western.

To Birmingham New Street

* Trains will operate hourly to Birmingham New Street, generally leaving Preston at xx:17, Wigan North Western at xx:28 and Warrington Bank Quay at xx:39, calling at Crewe and Wolverhampton. The majority will also serve Lancaster, leaving there at xx:57 minutes (most hours).
* 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).

To Scotland

* Trains will operate hourly from Birmingham to Wolverhampton, Crewe, Warrington, Wigan, Preston, Lancaster and Carlisle, with the destination alternating between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

* Trains will operate hourly from London to Warrington, Wigan and Preston, almost all serving Lancaster, the majority continuing to Carlisle and Glasgow Central.

* Most of these trains from Birmingham (generally leaving New Street at xx:20) and London Euston (leaving Euston at xx:30) will also call at Oxenholme Lake District or Penrith North Lakes.

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 to London from Preston and Lancaster are reduced from £16.50 to £10.50, and from Wigan North Western and Warrington Bank Quay from £13.00 to £8.00. Fares to Birmingham New Street are reduced from £9.50 to £4.50 (Preston and Lancaster), and from £8.50 to £4.00 (Wigan North Western and Warrington Bank Quay).

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.