West Coast Main Line Improvement Work Means Changes to Virgin Trains’ Services at Easter

August 18th, 2009 LONDON - There will be alterations to services over the August bank holiday weekend because of route improvement work. At various times through the weekend work will be taking place between Leighton Buzzard and Rugby, and between Crewe and Warrington Bank Quay/Liverpool Lime Street.

August 9th, 2009 LONDON - ATTN: North West Media Rugby League fans intending to support Warrington Wolves at Wembley on Saturday 29 August are advised not to travel to the game with Virgin Trains. Network Rail will be carrying out work in the Crewe and Rugby areas and rail journeys between the north-west and London Euston will be severely disrupted in both directions on Saturday 29, Sunday 30, and the morning of Monday 31 August.

July 29th, 2009 LONDON - Virgin Trains is slashing the cost of travel between London and the West Midlands by almost a third. From 3 August, passengers can travel for a lot less between London Euston/Watford Junction/Milton Keynes Central and Coventry/Birmingham International/Birmingham New Street; and between London and Rugby.

June 30th, 2009 LONDON - Commenting on the Government's decision to take the East Coast franchise in to temporary public ownership, Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group said: "Should the East Coast franchise go into default, the Government has made the right decision to take it back. If you bid for a car, a painting or a house and can't pay for it, it always reverts back to the under-bidder or the owner.

June 16th, 2009 LONDON - More Frequent Departures and Even Faster Journeys are on the Virgin Trains Agenda as Demand for Rail Travel Grows and Air Goes Into Decline Virgin Trains is going all out for the Glasgow market, having grounded the airlines between Liverpool and London and become the travel mode of choice for Manchester-London. Today Tony Collins, Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Trains, fleshed out more details of the Virgin 2020 vision that was outlined by Sir Richard Branson last month.

June 2nd, 2009 LONDON - We welcome Network Rail and the Office of Rail Regulation's acknowledgement of the unsatisfactory performance on the West Coast Main Line, which is vindication of the warnings we have given both organisations over the last three years. We are disappointed that NR have spent GBP9 billion on the "upgrade" to deliver the worst performing route on the rail network today.

May 18th, 2009 LONDON - With Photo A way forward for the UK's busiest long distance rail route to meet ever increasing passenger and freight demands was today mapped out by Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin group of companies. Among the initiatives that could happen within the next decade are: - Journey times of under 60 minutes between London and Birmingham - Construction of an underground extension to Birmingham International station with a direct link from there to the West Coast Main Line at Lichfield using the existing M6 corridor - Journey times of under 4 hours between London and Glasgow - Link the West Coast Main Line at its southern end with both Heathrow and HS1 to Europe - Strip down and modernise crumbling stations and replace them with fit for purpose buildings that work efficiently for rail passengers and can be a source of pride to the local community.

May 11th, 2009 LONDON - Major Work at Stoke-on-Trent Affects Services Through Until May 31 There will be alterations to services over the spring bank holiday weekend because of route improvement work. At various times though the weekend work will be taking place between Milton Keynes and Rugby, Nuneaton and Lichfield Trent Valley, Crewe and Warrington Bank Quay/Runcorn and in the Stoke-on-Trent area., The work between Milton Keynes and Rugby will be completed at 11:00 on Bank Holiday Monday allowing services from the North West to resume running to and from London Euston while on the same day the line between Crewe and Warrington will re-open at 14:00.

April 19th, 2009 LONDON - There will be alterations to services over the May Day bank holiday weekend because of route improvement work. At various times though the weekend work will be taking place between Milton Keynes and Rugby, Preston and Lancaster, Carlisle and Glasgow/Edinburgh and in the Stafford area, The work between Milton Keynes and Rugby will be completed at 12:00 on Bank Holiday Monday allowing West Midlands, Preston and Manchester services to resume running to and from London Euston.

April 16th, 2009 LONDON - Virgin Trains will be running additional late evening trains to get fans home after the Champions League Semi-Final football matches between Manchester United and Arsenal. There will be one extra train after each of the two matches.

May 6th, 2009 LONDON - British billionaire businessman Richard Branson has incurred the wrath of trade union leaders by dressing up as a station cleaner in a TV commercial promoting his Virgin Trains network. Branson, who also owns the Virgin Atlantic airline, appeared in the ad wearing an orange fluorescent jacket, his forearms covered in fake tattoos and some of his front teeth blacked out, as he drives a refuse cart through the main train station in Glasgow, Scotland.

July 17th, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - Train services in Orissa were disrupted Friday due to a 12-hour shutdown in West Bengal by the Congress protesting an attack on party legislators earlier this week, a railway official here said. At least six trains have been cancelled and two trains have been stopped on route.

March 23rd, 2009 LONDON - Britain will have the fastest and most frequent train service in the world by the year 2021. According to The Times, the train is expected to run between London and Birmingham.

July 18th, 2009 LONDON - A Brit train driver may lose his job following claims that he pleasured himself at the controls of a 125mph locomotive. The driver has been accused of ogling porn and performing a sex act while operating on one of the country's busiest lines, and a colleague allegedly wandered into his cabin mid-journey and spotted that his privates were exposed.

July 3rd, 2009 Metro red line trains to resume normal speedsWASHINGTON — Metro officials say red line trains in greater Washington, D.C., will return to regular speeds this holiday weekend for the first time since a deadly crash. Nine people were killed and more than 70 injured June 22 when one train slammed into another train stopped on tracks.

April 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday greeted the people on the occasion of Easter, saying the 'universal significance of Christ's resurrection is that truth triumphs over evil and love is stronger than hatred'. 'Easter celebrates compassion and brotherhood and the hope of a better tomorrow.

February 14th, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - The tracks damaged in the rail accident Friday in Orissa's Jajpur district have been repaired and train services resumed normal operations Sunday, an official here said. Both up and down line tracks were damaged after the Howrah-Chennai Coromandel Express got derailed just at the point of crossing of the tracks near Jajpur-Keonjhar Road railway station, over 120 km from here.

August 16th, 2009 Tropical storm warning issued for parts of Fla.MIAMI — A tropical storm warning was issued Sunday for parts of Florida as a newly formed depression swirled about 90 miles off the coast. The warning was issued for areas east of the Alabama state line to the Suwanee River.

September 3rd, 2009 Virgin America wants case ended on its citizenshipATLANTA — Privately held air carrier Virgin America is asking the Department of Transportation to deny Alaska Airlines' repeated challenges to its U.S. citizenship status and close the case.

September 8th, 2009 Man on disabled watercraft rescued in USVICHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands — A U.S.