Virgin Trains Archives - International Railway Journal

Virgin Trains

July 16, 2026 | Financial

Eurostar report sets out economic benefits to Britain

Contribution of £2bn a year forecast to rise by 40% with new routes to Geneva and Frankfurt.

May 20, 2024 | Main line

FirstGroup and Virgin apply to operate open-access services on Britain’s West Coast Main Line

FirstGroup plans London - Rochdale service as Virgin considers return to rail with four routes.

November 28, 2019 | High-speed

Avanti West Coast prepares for launch on December 8

FIRSTGROUP and Trenitalia, which won Britain’s West Coast Partnership franchise in August, will operate under the name Avanti West Coast when they take over from Virgin Trains on December 8.

August 14, 2019 | Main line

FirstGroup-Trenitalia wins West Coast Partnership

BRITAIN’s Department for Transport (DfT) has selected a joint venture of FirstGroup and Trenitalia UK as operator of the West Coast Partnership (WCP) franchise, which encompasses inter-city services on the West Coast Main Line (WCML) and the initial phase of operations on High Speed 2 (HS2).

June 11, 2019 | Main line

Virgin Trains plans Liverpool - London open access service

VIRGIN Trains has applied to Britain’s rail regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), to operate an hourly open-access service between Liverpool and London from May 2021.

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