Rail operator continues its transformation of customer experience onboard its trains
LONDON, 2016-Aug-30 — /Travel PR News/ — Virgin Trains is transforming the onboard dining and shopping experience for customers on its east coast route with an exciting, revamped Standard Class menu and onboard food bar packed with new products.
The move is all part of the rail operator’s £140m investment into its trains, stations and travel experience for customers. To date, this has included revamped First Class lounges, a First Class menu created by James Martin, refurbished train interiors and the launch of Beam, its ground breaking onboard entertainment portal that streams content direct to customers’ devices.
The revamped Standard Class menu features delicious hot and cold meals and drinks that tap into popular food trends, such as locally sourced products, indulgent treats, healthy snacks and contemporary juices. The new menu also embraces dishes and treats from James Martin’s menu for Virgin Trains previously offered exclusively to First Class customers.
Standard Class customers can now choose from James Martin’s scrumptious sausage rolls, as well as the chef’s Scottish rolled oats porridge, freshly baked pastries and hot bacon rolls made using locally sourced Beechwood bacon.
James Martin, Virgin Trains’ Executive Chef on the east coast, said “My passion for good quality locally sourced food combined with Virgin Trains’ commitment to improving the customer travel experience, have proved a perfect partnership. I’m excited to bring a selection of my hot meals and snacks to Standard Class customers following the successful launch of my First Class menu earlier this year.”
Also on offer are posh pudding, Naughty but Rice, gluten-free snack, Propercorn, Savse raw fruit and vegetable smoothies and juices, and Taking the Pea, home-grown green marrowfat peas roasted for crunch and seasoned with vegetarian-friendly ingredients.
Producers from Virgin Trains’ east coast route featured on the menu include Newcastle-based Canny Milks, a range of quality milkshakes infused with natural ingredients such as Belgian chocolate, strawberry and banana purees, and vanilla pods.
Ali Watson, Customer Experience Director at Virgin Trains on the east coast said: “We’re always striving to give our customers that added extra to make their journey with us even more enjoyable. Our new Standard Class menu and refreshed food bar offer feature an amazing choice of great quality food and drink options which we hope will take customer experience on our east coast route to the next level. This latest launch is part of our ongoing commitment to deliver the best possible travel experience for our customers whilst continuing to support local businesses from along our route.”
New products are available in the onboard food bar and on the Standard Class menu now.
About Virgin Trains:
Stagecoach and Virgin are working in partnership to operate the East Coast and West Coast inter-city routes under the Virgin Trains brand. Together, they are on track to revolutionise rail travel across the UK.
The combined network connects some of the nation’s most iconic destinations including Glasgow, Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leeds, York and London.
Virgin Trains is committed to delivering a high speed, high frequency service, offering shorter journey times, more comfortable travel and excellent customer service. Customers consistently rate Virgin Trains as one of the top long-distance rail franchise operators in the National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS) commissioned by industry watchdog, Transport Focus.
On the East Coast route, £140m is being invested to create a more personalised travel experience. We have already invested £21m to completely revamp our existing fleet and customers can now benefit from 42 additional services (22,000 extra seats) per week between Edinburgh and London. 2018 will see the introduction of completely new Azuma trains being built in the UK by Hitachi.
The West Coast route has a proud record of challenging the status quo – from introducing tilting Pendolino trains, to a pioneering automated delay repay scheme and becoming the first franchised rail operator to offer m-Tickets for all ticket types.
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SOURCE: Virgin Trains