Marcus Jones has today welcomed the announcement of extra carriages and more seats that will benefit passengers travelling on the busy West Coast Main Line from April next year. This comes as the Government signs an extension to Virgin Trains' existing contract to operate services on the line.

Services on the line - which stretches from London to Glasgow serving Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and North Wales - will benefit from three new 600-seat Pendolino trains, in addition to the new Pendolino which entered service in July this year. Also, 31 existing Pendolinos will be lengthened from 9 to 11 carriages, increasing the number of standard class seats on each train by almost 50 per cent. In all, 106 new carriages are being introduced on the route making 28,000 extra seats available each day, an increase of 25 per cent.

Commenting, Nuneaton’s MP Marcus Jones said:

“This is great news for passengers in Nuneaton, who will benefit from 28,000 extra seats on the West Coast Main Line. With 25 per cent more seats available each day.

“From experience I know that on a Thursday and Friday night the first off peak train from Euston is absolutely crammed - with dozens of people often standing - so this will make a real difference.”

Adding, the Government’s Rail Minister, Theresa 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 so passengers reap the benefits as soon as possible.

‘When this extension expires in December 2012, the Government will have completed a competition for a new operator to run services on the line under a new longer style of franchise which gives the operator more incentive to invest and more freedom to innovate and deliver for passengers.

‘These extra seats are great news for passengers, but in the longer term, even with these improvements, the route is expected to be full by 2024. This is why we are considering proposals for a high speed rail line between London, the West Midlands, Manchester, Leeds and potentially beyond.”