Virgin has offered a first glimpse of its plans to reimagine cross-Channel travel, releasing a new image of a striking black and red train and sharing some early clues about what customers can expect on board.<\/p>\n
Under a landmark agreement with French rail group Alstom, spanning the delivery of 12 trains, Virgin will operate a fleet of Avelia Stream trainsets capable of travelling at speeds of up to 300km\/h, with customised interiors designed for cross-Channel travel. <\/p>\n
Virgin plans to introduce 20 daily return services between London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam from 2030, adding almost 7.5 million seats to the cross-Channel route per year and creating up to 1,000 new jobs; boosting tourism and business travel, and supporting local economies. <\/p>\n
The company is promising that a trip through the Channel Tunnel will be something passengers can look forward to just as much as reaching their destination. <\/p>\n
Virgin\u2019s ambition is to bring the outstanding customer experience it is known for around the world to cross-Channel rail. It will draw on a proven playbook shared across more than 40 Virgin businesses, which together delight 45 million customers worldwide.<\/p>\n
Virgin Atlantic\u2019s Clubhouses will help inspire pre-departure and onboard social spaces, giving passengers more flexibility to work, relax or socialise in style. Virgin Voyages\u2019 award-winning onboard dining will influence the food and drink offer, while Virgin Hotels\u2019 focus on comfort and design will help inform the development of seating and onboard spaces.<\/p>\n
Virgin\u2019s loyalty platform, Virgin Red, will make journeys more rewarding, allowing passengers to earn Virgin Points and spend them on future journeys, flights, hotel stays, cruises and experiences.<\/p>\n
Most importantly, Virgin\u2019s people will be given the freedom to show passengers a great time and create memorable moments throughout the journey. Every design detail and customer touchpoint will be carefully considered and unmistakably Virgin, with accessibility built in from the outset. Virgin will also draw on its 20 years of operating Virgin Trains in the UK as it develops the new cross-Channel passenger experience.<\/p>\n
Josh Bayliss, CEO of Virgin Group, said: \u201cVirgin has a proud history in UK rail. With our latest venture we are drawing on more than four decades of experience across travel and hospitality to create something genuinely new.\u202f This time, we\u2019ll be connecting London with some of Europe\u2019s greatest cities and giving passengers a distinctive new choice in cross-Channel travel.<\/p>\n
\u201cVirgin has always thrived on challenging the status quo and aimed to provide our customers with a great experience. We\u2019ll bring the same approach to the cross-Channel route, making the journey something to look forward to as much as the destination.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re confident that more journeys between the UK and Europe will be made by train. We\u2019re adding capacity for millions more international rail journeys each year, growing the market as a whole. We\u2019re looking forward to seeing our distinctive red and black trains travelling across Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Andrew DeLeone, Europe Region President at Alstom, said: “We are incredibly excited to be working with Virgin once again, a brand we greatly admire for its commitment to innovation, customer experience and growing sustainable rail travel. Across Europe, passengers are increasingly looking for more seamless cross-border high-speed rail connections, and this project will help deliver exactly that.<\/p>\n
“Our Avelia Stream platform combines proven high-speed performance with outstanding energy efficiency, passenger comfort and operational flexibility. As both the train supplier and fleet maintainer, Alstom will support Virgin throughout the full lifecycle of the project \u2013 from delivery into service through to long-term operations \u2013 helping to ensure a reliable, high-quality service for decades to come.”<\/p>\n
Virgin will also explore how its rail and airline networks could work more closely together, making it easier for international customers arriving in London with Virgin Atlantic to continue to France and other European destinations, while connecting passengers from France into Virgin Atlantic\u2019s global network.<\/p>\n
Virgin has signed an agreement with Eurostar to maintain its trains at the Temple Mills International depot in east London and is the only prospective new operator through the Channel Tunnel to have secured track access in the UK \u2013 with its access confirmed until at least 2040. <\/p>\n
Further details about Virgin\u2019s proposed services, trains and customer experience will be shared in the coming months.<\/p>\n
Image credit: Virgin Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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