Virgin Trains were named as Public Transport Operator of the Year at the Scottish Transport Awards, establishing its reputation as the UK’s leading long-distance rail service and recognising its role in transforming rail journeys between Scotland and England.
Virgin Trains’ commitment to its strategy of investment, innovation and improving customer service has resulted in record passenger numbers on the East and West Coast routes, and has also contributed to a steady rise in customer satisfaction numbers. On the East Coast route, between Edinburgh and London, passenger numbers grew by 8% in 2016, boosted by updated train interiors on its entire fleet and the additional 45 services between the capitals. On the West Coast route, Virgin Trains dramatically improved its punctuality leading to record passenger volumes between Glasgow. In fact, in the 24-week period to the end of March, numbers were up by 28% compared to two years ago.
Patrick McGrath, Virgin Trains’ Executive Director for Human Resources on the west coast route, said: “This award is a wonderful recognition of the hard work Virgin Trains has put in over the last 20 years to transform customer services and improve rail connections between England and Scotland. We have seen investment, innovation and a relentless focus on customer experience which has helped make rail more popular than ever and we want to play a leading role in continuing that great success story.”
With Virgin Trains having a key focus on their customers, Virgin Trains have set their sights on being the industry leaders in customer experience with the investment into BEAM a new streaming service that allows passengers to stream more than 200 hours of Hollywood blockbusters and popular box sets straight to their devices.
David Horne, Managing Director of Virgin Trains’ east coast route, added: “We started our Virgin Trains investment commitment just over two years ago and have already seen a root-and-branch overhaul over the service we provide to customers. Brand new train interiors, more frequent journeys, introduction of an industry-leading entertainment streaming app, BEAM. These have helped drive the amazing 8% growth in passenger numbers between Edinburgh and London last year and we couldn’t be more pleased to be recognised by Transport Times for putting those improvements in place.”
The prestigious Scottish Transport Awards ceremony was held in Glasgow on 15th June 2017 and was hosted by Sanjeev Kohli.
