Upgraded West Coast Main Line will serve more passengers

Date: 27/10/2011

The West Coast Main Line is the latest rail service to be upgraded with extra carriages and additional seats, rail minister Theresa Villiers has announced.

Virgin Trains have been kept on by the government, to operate the service on the West Coast line. Stretching from London to Glasgow, serving Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and North Wales, the line will see three new 600-seat Pendolino trains added before December 2012.

In addition, all existing trains will be lengthened by two carriages, increasing the number of standard class seats by almost 50 per cent.

Ms Villiers said: "The West Coast Main Line is one of our busiest and most important rail arteries. Keeping the existing operator in place while these new trains and carriages are introduced should help ensure they are introduced smoothly onto the network."

East Anglia Rail Service has also recently been earmarked for an upgrade, including refurbished carriages and extra CCTV installation.