Rail Firm Set For Busiest Christmas

19 December 2014, 14:35 | Updated: 19 December 2014, 14:36

A train operator is preparing for its busiest ever Christmas period in Scotland with more than 60,000 of its passengers expected to travel across the border in the next fortnight.

Virgin Trains said tomorrow is expected to be its busiest day of the year while today more than 5,000 passengers are due to travel south from Glasgow Central.

However, passengers have been warned that services to and from London on the weekend of December 27/28 are being diverted due to engineering works, so customers travelling between London and Scotland will have to go via the East Coast.

Virgin Trains said that staffing at stations has been increased to help customers with their luggage and finding a seat during the busy period.

Gary Iddon, general manager for Anglo-Scottish services, said: "We've put more frontline people on the ground to deal with the expected surge.

"It's going to be a challenge, but customers are our top priority and we're doing everything we can to make sure their Christmas journeys go without a hitch.

"There are no services on Christmas and Boxing Day and on the following weekend of 27/28 December engineering work at Watford will mean that passengers in Scotland will have to travel via the East Coast Main Line to get to Scotland.

"We've seen a very steep reduction in bookings over that weekend, which is reassuring as it shows the message around that disruption is getting out there.''

Virgin Trains operates 30 cross-border services per weekday, linking Edinburgh and Glasgow with cities including London, Birmingham, Preston and Carlisle along the West Coast Main Line.