SCOTS travelling between Glasgow and London were today promised more trains, faster journey times and lots of extra seats.
SCOTS travelling between Glasgow and London were today promised more trains, faster journey times and lots of extra seats.
The pledge from train companies comes just three weeks before rail commuters will be forced to pay inflation-busting fare rises.
Major multi-billion pound works designed to upgrade the busy West Coast main line are about to end and today the Association of Train Operating Companies said that journeys are to become far faster.
Commuters currently travelling between Glasgow and London face journeys of up to five hours 27 minutes. The shortest they can hope for is four hours and 26 minutes.
But before the year's end travellers will spend just four hours and 10 minutes on the train.
And ATOC says there will be a third more trains linking both cities and the trains will be longer - so much so that 13million extra seats will be available.
It's not just West Coast main line passengers who will benefit.
Rail companies will run nearly 700 more trains a day on week days and a total of 265,000 more a year from next Sunday when a new timetable comes in.
The revised timetable takes effect less than three weeks before new year fares are introduced, with season tickets going up by an average of 6%.
For passengers, the new timetable will mean:
- An extra 3.4% of trains each weekday, taking the total to 20,728
- The number of Saturday trains increasing by 5.2% and Sunday trains by 7.6%
- 20% more trains than the last comparable timetable of British Rail services in 1996
- Four new stations and two new lines opening within few months
- Eight additional towns and cities being linked by direct services to London for the first time for many years
- 30% more trains on the West Coast route, with 13m additional seats a year ATOC chief executive Michael Roberts said: "The new timetable is a clear demonstration that the railway industry continues to add value for passengers.
"Train operators are making better use of their resources to achieve major service improvements, starting in the run-up to Christmas - one of the busiest times of the year for the railway."
