Travel Advice for Liverpool and Everton Football Fans: FA Cup Semi-Final at Wembley - Saturday 14 April 2012
LONDON, April 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
Virgin Trains is advising fans going to the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on Saturday 14 April that if they have not already bought rail tickets from Liverpool to London they should consider alternative travel arrangements. The warning comes despite the number of seats on the Liverpool-London route being doubled.
A Virgin Trains' spokesman said: "We are using our longer trains on the route and will also operate some relief trains which will provide around 1500 extra seats on the route, with a further 900 seats on privately operated charter train services. This is the most we can provide given the early kick-off time for the match.
"We are aware that many fans have bought tickets without seat reservations, with their booking confirmation merely showing a recommended train service. We would ask fans to check their bookings carefully. We want fans to have an enjoyable day and we are doing everything we can to make that possible, but we need the fans to help us."
Virgin Trains says that fans who have not bought a ticket but who intend to travel by rail to London must:
- Travel on services from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston
or
- Travel on services from Stoke-on-Trent to London Euston. Ample car parking facilities are available at Stoke-on-Trent.
Services from Crewe and Warrington Bank Quay are already heavily reserved and should not be used.
For details of train service options from Manchester Piccadilly or Stoke-on-Trent use the journey planner at http://www.virgintrains.com or call National Rail Enquiries on 08457-48-49-50.
Notes to Editors
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Virgin Trains is the brand name of Virgin Rail Group (VRG), which is owned 51 percent by Virgin Group and 49 percent by Stagecoach. We have operated the West Coast passenger train franchise since 1997.
The current franchise was due to run until 31 March 2012, but the Department for Transport announced on 27 October 2011 that it would be extended until 8 December 2012. We have been short-listed for the new franchise that will start on 9 December 2012 and run until 31 March 2026, with an option to be extended by up to 20 months.
Virgin Trains has been recognised in numerous industry awards. In 2011 the company was named Best Rail Operator in the Group Leisure Awards (which we also won in 2009 and 2010). In 2011 Virgin Trains won the British Quality Foundation's Achievement Award for Customer Satisfaction. In 2012 we were named Best Rail Operator of the Year at the Travel Globe Awards (voted for by readers of the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and Evening Standard. We also won this award in 2010. In 2009 we were voted Best UK Domestic Train Service by Business Traveller magazine for the second year running.
Virgin Trains first achieved Investors In People accreditation in 2007 and this was renewed in 2010; the IIP Gold award was achieved in 2011. In May 2011 Virgin Trains was awarded accreditation against the criteria of the European Foundation for Quality Management's (EFQM) Excellence Model. The company's Learning and Development team won a National Training Awards 2011 West Midlands award for its Coaching Culture programme.
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