Nuneaton’s MP Marcus Jones has expressed his disappointment at the decision of Virgin Trains not to include a late night service from London to Nuneaton in the latest time table.

Marcus, who has been a long-time campaigner for better off-peak fast rail services for Nuneaton, was told during a meeting with Virgin Trains early in May that the late night service would not be going ahead.

During the meeting, Marcus pressed the train company for assurances that other services from and to Nuneaton station were safe, which he received.

Marcus thought that progress was being made when Virgin time tabled  a new late night service from Euston stopping at Nuneaton, although he was then surprised to find that Virgin proposed to stop the train after the station had closed. Despite pressure from the local MP which lead to discussions between Virgin and London Midland, who run the station, Virgin have decided that it was not viable to pay London Midland to open Nuneaton station until after midnight. 

Commenting, Marcus said: “I am extremely disappointed with the Virgin decision not to include a late night service from London. Since 2008, when the previous Labour Government allowed Virgin to strip away most of our fast off-peak services, it has been an uphill battle to get services reinstated, and I thought that we had a small chink of light in making some progress.

“I was then horrified to discover the mistake made by Virgin who had not ascertained that Nuneaton station was not open after midnight. After some lobbying I was told that a way could be found to open the station to receive the late train, I was therefore very disappointed to now be told by Virgin that they have withdrawn this service.

“I firmly believe that whilst we have extremely good peak services from Virgin and off-peak services run by London Midland, there are nearly a million passengers a year using Nuneaton’s station and there is no doubt that extra demand for more fast services exists, which are vital if we are to attract  new businesses and jobs for our area.

“I will continue to be a thorn in the side of both Virgin and the Secretary of State for Transport until Nuneaton gets a better train service that local people deserve and need”.