VIRGIN hopes its new Pendolino tilting trains will double the
number of passengers using its services to 30 million a year by 2006.
The ambitious plan to win back business from the airlines
and motorways was revealed when Virgin publicly launched its Pendolino trains
yesterday.
The train’s have a top speed of 140 mph and will cut the
journey time between London and Edinburgh from five hours to three hours fifty-five
minutes.
They will be introduced on the West Coast Mainline from
November and replace Virgin’s existing fleet by 2003.
The Pendolino’s will initially operate at 110 mph, but
will get the go-ahead to run at 140 mph in 2005 when the line speed is
increased.