Virgin Trains hosts live launch of Virgin Radio

March 30, 2016, London: Virgin Trains made history today, as one of its Pendolinos hosted the first ever live digital broadcast from a moving train, to re-launch Virgin Radio. The opening broadcast included live performances from some of the UK’s leading bands such as, Travis, Mystery Jets, Walking On Cars, Gavin James and The Feeling.

The newly named Pendolino – the ‘Virgin Radio Star’ – was unveiled to spectators at Manchester Piccadilly by Virgin Radio’s breakfast and drivetime presenters, Edith Bowman and Matt Richardson, alongside Sam Branson.

The train then journeyed through the UK, via Crewe, Birmingham and Rugby, with the bands entertaining guests with live, on-board performances of a selection of their greatest hits.

A number of the train’s carriages were transformed into performance spaces complete with wallpaper, rugs and music memorabilia to bring the bands’ performances to life as they travelled at 125mph along the West Coast Mainline.

Adrian Varma, Head of Regional Marketing at Virgin Trains said, “Virgin is a brand famous for creativity, ambition, humour and glamour whether on a train or over the airwaves. At Virgin Trains we pride ourselves on embodying that spirit, so relished the opportunity to team up with Virgin Radio to become the first digital radio station to broadcast live from a train travelling at a speedy 125mph! The fantastic line-up of top artists, hosted by some of the best presenters in the business, made the Virgin Radio re-launch an event to remember.”

Sam Branson, speaking on board the Virgin Radio Star said: “Being part of the live launch of Virgin Radio has been an awesome experience. It’s not often that you get to hear such great music in such an intimate space... let alone on a moving train!”

Fran Healy, lead singer of Travis, said: “We are thrilled to be asked to be the conductors on Virgin Radio’s first broadcast. Anyone without a ticket is OFF... unless they Sing!"

On arrival into London, guests were taken to the new Virgin Radio studio, where Reef performed a final live show in the building’s brand new performance space, ‘The Red Room’.

Speaking after the day’s festivities, Edith Bowman said: “What an exhilarating experience! To be part of the launch of one of radio’s most iconic brands is exciting anyway, but to do it with such a bang has been sensational. Virgin Radio has started as it means to go on, playing fantastic music, doing things that seem like they can’t be done, but which sound great on air and make the listener experience completely unique.”

Virgin Radio is available now on DAB digital radio, with a talented line-up of presenters including Edith Bowman, Matt Richardson, Jamie East, Kate Lawler and Tim Cocker [see Notes for Editors below]. The station will play a wide range of pop and rock, from the best 80s and Britpop tunes, to the latest artists.

Listeners need to retune their digital radio to pick up Virgin Radio.

For more information, visit VirginRadio.co.uk.

-ENDS-

Notes for Editors:

Virgin Radio Schedule

About Virgin Trains

Stagecoach and Virgin are working in partnership to operate the East Coast and West Coast inter-city routes under the Virgin Trains brand. Together, they are on track to revolutionise rail travel across the UK.

The combined network connects some of the nation’s most iconic destinations including Glasgow, Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leeds, York 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 as one of the top long-distance rail franchise operators in the National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS) commissioned by industry watchdog, Transport Focus.

On the East Coast route, £140m is being invested to create a more personalised travel experience. This includes a major fleet revamp, smarter stations and exciting new routes. From May 2016, there will be 42 additional services (22,000 extra seats) per week between Edinburgh and London.2018 will see the introduction of completely new Azuma trains being built in the UK by Hitachi.

The West Coast route has a proud record of challenging the status quo - from introducing tilting Pendolino trains, to a pioneering automated delay repay scheme and becoming the first franchised rail operator to offer m-Tickets for all ticket types.

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.

About Virgin Radio

Virgin Radio is a hotly anticipated digital radio station, set to return to the UK airwaves on the 30^th March 2016. The station originally broadcast in the UK between 1993 and 2008 to record audiences. In December 2014, Virgin Radio International partnered with Wireless Group plc to re-launch Virgin Radio in the UK, subject to the necessary broadcasting licence being awarded – which it was by Ofcom in March 2015.

www.virginradio.co.uk

About Virgin Radio International

Virgin Radio International is the part of the Virgin Group responsible for the development of Virgin Radio globally. Since it was set-up in 2001, it has partnered with leading media groups to launch Virgin Radio stations in Canada, France, Italy, Turkey, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and Thailand and has many other stations under development. Virgin Radio International’s stations broadcast in multiple languages and music based formats and now have 18 million listeners worldwide.

www.virginradio.com

About Wireless Group GB

Wireless Group GB is part of Wireless Group plc, a leading UK and Irish media company. It owns 16 radio stations across England and Wales, including talkSPORT, the world's biggest sports radio station, as well as Sport, the UK's biggest sports magazine, talkRADIO and Virgin Radio.

www.WirelessGroupplc.com