Rugby MP Mark Pawsey has welcomed the announcement of extra carriages on the busy West Coast Main line from April of next year.
The Government has signed an extension to the present Virgin Trains’ contract to operate services on the line. Three new 600 seat Pendolino trains will be added to the line’s fleet and thirty one existing Pendolinos will be lengthened from nine to eleven carriages increasing the standard class seats on each train by almost fifty percent.
In total the changes will see an extra 28,000 extra seats become available each day.
Speaking after the announcements Mark said:
“I am very pleased at these announcements and this is great news for passengers here in Rugby. Being a rail user myself I know firsthand of the pressure on the present services on the line and I hope these additional seats will ease that pressure at peak times.”
Announcing the additional services Government Rail Minister Theresa Villiers MP 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 so passengers reap the benefits as soon as possible.”