C4.44 Virgin Trains Discontinuation
Virgin Trains in the UK has ceased operations, and the new Avanti West Coast trains have been launched.
Virgin Trains in the UK is no longer running—even Pikachu is crying..
Source: Matt Claypole
Source: Richard Branson
Virgin Trains in the UK officially ceased operations on Saturday, December 7, 2019—meaning there will be no more Virgin Trains... When I heard the news, I felt... I didn’t feel anything... For this, they made a promotional video for the final journey. Surprisingly, the atmosphere is quite cheerful and the song is nice too!!! Wow, you can really watch it :)
As in the video below, the man speaking at the beginning is Richard Branson, the owner of Virgin Trains. He’s a wealthy boss with a very colorful and entertaining life... By the way, the passenger who appears at the end of the video looks a bit like a gingerbread man... I’ve noticed that many places in the UK love to give me gingerbread men to eat... But I politely declined with thanks for their kindness :)
Source: Virgin Trains
What? You don’t know which one is the boss? As in the image below, this is the guy—a wealthy person with 12.7 million followers on Twitter... He’s a legendary rich man. I’ll talk more about this man with rich experiences when I have time later..
As shown in the image below, the wealthy boss with 12.7 million followers posted a message to express his gratitude:
Source: Richard Branson
Even in November 2019, one month before ceasing operations, Virgin Trains was still teasing everyone by saying "I feel naked" :)
Source: Virgin Trains
Speaking of Virgin Trains (its full English name), you could easily hear announcements for it at train stations across the UK... But if I didn’t mishear, what I heard most was "Virgin Train, Virgin Train, Train, Train, Train, Train..."
Uh, due to various issues, British trains are prone to delays... So I often boarded the wrong train :)
This reminds me of a time I wanted to take a train to London. The train I was supposed to catch was delayed, but I didn’t notice. I thought the train arriving on time was mine, so I got on. Little did I expect, this train was heading to some other mysterious place—I can’t remember exactly where. It wasn’t until the ticket inspector checked my ticket after we’d been traveling for a long time that I was told I’d boarded the wrong train... That feeling, wow, you can really try it :)
However, the train service was extremely good. After boarding the wrong train, the ticket inspector helped me get off at the next platform, informed the customer service center, re-planned my route, and let me take the next train to London for free—they were really efficient :)
So why did Virgin Trains cease operations?
Some friends might ask, if the franchise expired, why not renew it? That’s a good question—let me explain in the second reason.
Virgin Trains completed nearly 500 million journeys in the UK over 22 years of operation. It can be said that many people grew up traveling on Virgin Trains... For us international students, we graduated traveling on Virgin Trains...
As shown in the image below: This passenger named Harry Parkin grew up taking Virgin Trains:
Source: Harry Parkin
As shown in the image below: A Virgin Trains ticket shared by a netizen:
Source: Chesire_trainspotter
It ceased operations because Virgin Trains’ rail franchise in the UK expired—it had exactly completed 22 years by December 2019. Virgin Trains’ final service departed from London Euston at 21:42 UK time on December 7, bound for Wolverhampton, marking the end of its operations.
Looking back at its history, Virgin Trains first began serving the West Coast Main Line in 1997. It was one of the UK’s rail operating companies, jointly owned by Virgin Group and Stagecoach Group
。
Source: Daniel
As late as December 3, just a few days before ceasing operations, Virgin Trains was still posting to remind passengers: "Please mind the gap" and officially announced their impending closure. I’m extremely familiar with this phrase—it’s heard everywhere. Basically, subways and trains abroad all make this reminder... One of my favorite things to do when taking the subway or train is to repeat along with the announcement: "Please mind the gap, next station..."
Source: Virgin Trains
According to BBC reports, in April 2019, Virgin Group and Stagecoach Group were barred from bidding for three rail franchises. The ban came because Stagecoach Group—which holds a 49% stake in Virgin Trains—failed to meet the pension requirements set by the Department for Transport (DfT). This included the DfT rejecting the renewal of the West Coast rail franchise, as well as Virgin Trains’ applications for the East Midlands and South Eastern franchises.
The two companies are currently taking legal action against the DfT over its decision
Source: BBC
It all comes down to money—specifically, money for the future.
The Pensions Regulator estimates that the UK rail industry needs an additional £5 billion to £6 billion to fill the pension deficit. Stagecoach, however, stated that it cannot take on such "uncontrollable and unmanageable" risks related to pensions.
A DfT spokesperson said Stagecoach is an experienced bidder fully aware of the rules of the franchise competition. Yet the company ignored the rules by submitting non-compliant bids—including for all rail franchise tenders it participated in. The spokesperson emphasized that Stagecoach should take responsibility for its disqualification, which also applies to the East Midlands franchise it bid for independently.
Virgin Trains has been succeeded by Avanti West Coast, a joint venture between Aberdeen-based First Group and Italian company Trenitalia.
As shown in the image below: Avanti West Coast’s logo is an orange triangle:
Source: Avanti West Coast
It officially took over from Virgin Trains on December 8, 2019, as shown in the promotional image below:
Source: Avanti West Coast
Below is their promotional video—the rhythm is too fast and a bit shaky. As the saying goes, "new trains bring new vibes"—this promotion could learn a thing or two from the previous operator’s video:
As shown in the image below: An Avanti West Coast train, with their orange triangle logo on it:
On December 8, 2019, Avanti West Coast sent a "Bye" GIF to Virgin Trains on Twitter. I have to say, it’s not a blurry screenshot—the GIF itself is fuzzy... What’s more, Avanti West Coast only posted a single dot "." without any words, just tagging Virgin Trains... It’s surprisingly funny...
Avanti West Coast officially launched operations on December 8, 2019, and has repainted its trains—now all trains are wearing a new look:
Alright, everyone can now experience the UK’s new train service, Avanti West Coast...