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Railhub Archive
2001-09-26 VIR-001
Virgin Trains0
Voyager Launch - Wessex
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   Voyager Launch - Wessex
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date 26 September 2001
source Virgin Trains
type Press release
Bournemouth and Southampton become two of the first places in the UK to receive the new 125 mph Voyager trains when Virgin Trains starts to upgrade its services to the Midlands and North from Monday 30th September.
The Worshipful The Mayor and Mayoress of Bournemouth, Councillor & Mrs Douglas Eyre will lead a party of invited guests including politicians, the business community and local and trade media in welcoming the first Voyager to Bournemouth station. They will be greeted by Mark Furlong, Commercial Director, Virgin Trains, who will then invite The Mayor to name the new train “Wessex Voyager” before making a non-stop preview run to Southampton and back.
Virgin trians has committed to a £1 billion investment to renew its entire CrossCountry fleet with brand new trains. When the full timetable is introduced in September 2002, a new hourly service will start at Poole and call at Bournemouth, Brockenhurst and Southampton, before heading north to Reading, Birmingham, Blackpool and Scotland.
One of the existing services from Bournemouth, the 14 18 departure to Manchester, will be amongst the first of Virgin’s CrossCountry services to change over to the new trains from 30 September.
Mark Furlong said today: “We are not just replacing the existing CrossCountry services. We are committing to a new high speed service from Wessex to the North West and Scotland every hour throughout the day from September 2002. Bournemouth and Southampton’s rail services do not just go to London: There is a strong demend to the Midlands and North and I believe the new trains will attract motorists off the roads”.
The Voyager Trains have sports car performance and are designed to cruise at speeds of up to 125 mph. The new trains bring rail travel into the twenty-first century with audio entertainment at every seat, an on-board shop and a Club car that offers at-seat service throughout the journey.
Railhub Archive ::: 2001-09-26 VIR-001
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