English News: End Of The Line For Virgin

Virgin Trains has said goodbye to its passengers, making its last trip after 22 years and almost 500 million journeys.

Britain’s longest-running rail franchise, which began serving the West Coast Main Line in March 1997, operated its final service last night.

Following the last journey, the 9.42pm departure from London Euston to Wolverhampton, Virgin Trains tweeted to say thank you to its passengers for travelling.

The end for Virgin Trains, which is co-owned by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and Stagecoach, came after its bid to continue running trains on the line was disqualified by the Department for Transport in a row over pensions.

Its routes have now been taken over by Avanti West Coast.

Richard Branson Tweeted “A huge thank you to all our wonderful people at @VirginTrains – it’s down to all of your incredible work every day that Virgin Trains has been the UK’s longest running and top-rated rail franchise https://virg.in/iuk  #VirginFamily”