TRAIN operators Virgin has announced a major expansion of its CrossCountry services through York to Birmingham and the South West.

It should mean passengers from York travelling to the South West and the south coast having a much greater choice of trains.

Under the summer timetable which comes into force on May 23 there will be an extra service to Bristol from York leaving at 6.40am every day and an extra five trains daily from Newcastle to Birmingham, calling at York.

The existing 6.45am from Newcastle to Bristol, which calls at York, will be extended to Plymouth, and there will be a new 11.08 service from Newcastle through to Bournemouth, also calling at York.

Brian Barrett, Virgin rail's chief executive, said today CrossCountry routes through Birmingham were being increased by 20 per cent.

He said: "This is the beginning of a new era for our customers."

A spokesman for the company said Virgin was in the process of refurbishing all its CrossCountry trains, many of them more than 25 years old, at a cost of about £1 million each.

The company planned to invest another £250 million in new diesel-powered tilting trains which will be built by Adtranz at Derby.

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