Twenty four hour train services extended to get Britons home

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February 2012

January 2012

24 hour train services extended to get Britons home

22/04/2010

Train companies will run around-the-clock services from London airports again this evening as increasing numbers of passengers finally fly back to the country.

Additional services and trains with extra carriages between major cities and to and from passenger ferry ports will also continue running into next week to help Britons get home once they arrive in the UK.

Overnight services from Stansted and Gatwick airports to central London stations will be provided tonight, as Network Rail keeps Paddington, Liverpool Street and Victoria stations open for the second night running.

Operators are working closely with the Department for Transport to assess whether overnight services will be needed after tonight.

Network Rail has cancelled engineering works to ensure that enhanced rail services on the west coast and east coast can continue over the weekend and into next week.

The country’s ferry ports remain very busy, and train operators have committed to keep additional capacity in place until the backlog of returning travellers has cleared.

National Express East Anglia is adding more Stansted Express services so that they run half hourly throughout the night. The operator has also added extra services to meet ferries at Harwich International tomorrow. Visit www.nationalexpresseastanglia.com for more details.
Southern Railway is running Gatwick Express trains to Victoria through the night on a half-hourly basis tonight. Trains will depart from Gatwick Airport during the night at 20 and 50 minutes past the hour with the first of the half hourly trains running at 00:20. Normal service of trains every 15 minutes will start again at 05:00. Hourly services will also be running throughout the night between Gatwick and Brighton. See www.southernrailway.com for details.
First Great Western is putting on seven extra services tonight between Reading and Gatwick and London and Bristol/Oxford, and more additional services are planned in the coming days. See www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk for details.
Virgin is providing an additional late service tonight and tomorrow from Glasgow to Euston which will make a normally unscheduled stop at Birmingham International at 00:42 for connections to the airport. See www.virgintrains.co.uk for details.
South West Trains will have three extra trains and crew on standby tonight and tomorrow night, providing around 2,200 additional seats if required. Services would link Portsmouth, Southampton and Southampton Airport Parkway to London Waterloo. See www.southwesttrains.co.uk for details.

See www.nationalrail.co.uk for details on extra services being provided by Virgin Trains, East Coast Trains, and Arriva Trains Wales, or visit their websites.

Michael Roberts, chief executive of the Association of Train Operating Companies, said: “From the start, train companies have responded to help Britons struggling to get home.

“The railways have been pleased to play their part.”