Virgin CrossCountry - Virgin CrossCountry Services - B

Virgin CrossCountry - B

Virgin CrossCountry Services

In May 1998 Virgin introduced new services from Portsmouth Harbour to Liverpool Lime Street and Blackpool North. The Summer Saturday service to Ramsgate ran for the last time in September 1999. The Summer Saturday services to Weymouth ran for the last time in September 2002.

Virgin CrossCountry Operation Princess

In September 2002 Virgin Trains launched Operation Princess. This involved introducing a new clockface timetable with shorter trains running more frequently. However the new fleet suffered from a number of technical faults which coupled with infrastructure and capacity issues led to many problems.

Between September 2002 and January 2003 punctuality fell to 54.1%, it was therefore agreed with the Strategic Rail Authority that certain services would be cut to improve reliability and robustness on the core network.

When Operation Princess was launched in September 2002, Virgin CrossCountry served these destinations:

VT0 Birmingham New Street to Swindon via Cheltenham

Withdrawn summer 2003

VT1 Glasgow Central, Edinburgh Waverley & Blackpool North through Birmingham New Street to South West of England

Blackpool North withdrawn summer 2003

VT2 Aberdeen, Edinburgh Waverley & Newcastle through Manchester Piccadilly and Birmingham New Street to Poole

Services west of Bournemouth withdrawn summer 2003

VT3 Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Airport, through Birmingham New Street to London Paddington, Portsmouth and Brighton

Portsmouth and London Paddington withdrawn summer 2003, reduced frequency to Brighton, all Liverpool Lime Street withdrawn winter 2003

VT4 Aberdeen and Edinburgh Waverley through Birmingham New Street to Cardiff, Swansea, Paignton and Penzance

Services west of Cardiff withdrawn summer 2003

Virgin CrossCountry Overview

Virgin CrossCountry Franchise(s): InterCity CrossCountry

6 January 1997 – 10 November 2007

Virgin CrossCountry Main Route(s): Southern England/London Paddington and South West England/South East Wales – Midlands – Northern England and Scotland

Virgin CrossCountry Fleet Size: 34 Voyager and 44 Super Voyager sets

Virgin CrossCountry Parent Company: Virgin Group (51%)

Stagecoach (49%)

Virgin CrossCountry Reporting Mark: VXC

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