COMMUTERS have been on more than 458 million journeys and enjoyed 12.5 million cups of tea during Virgin Trains’ 20 years on the West Coast Main Line (WCML).

Warrington has played an integral part in the company’s success since it was awarded the West Coast franchise in 1997.

Over the past two decades the firm, which employs 3,566 people, has covered 334.5 million miles, served more than 12.5 million cups of tea and dished out five million English breakfasts to passengers.

Customers have been on over 458 million journeys since 1997, including more than 37 million in the last 12 months.

The annual figure has increased from just under 15 million commutes in 1997, with revenue growth topping £1 billion in 2015-16 – £763 million more than the total reached in 1997-98.

The Warrington Guardian boarded one of the firm’s trains – from Warrington Bank Quay to London Euston – to get a feel of the service.

The journey to the capital took two hours, with the return lasting less than 1h 43m.

Michael Stewart, general manager for the Anglo-Scot route, hailed Warrington for the role it has played in Virgin Trains’ growth.

He said: “We have been really proud of what we have managed to achieve over the last 20 years.

“Some of the best changes we have seen is the increase in the number of our services.

“It has gone from 11 a day between London and Warrington in 1997 to 19 a day now.

“The journey time used to be around 2h 20m but now it is under 1h 50m, which for me is pretty good.

“It is only when look back we see it is a massive achievement.

“Not only have we grown massively, Warrington itself has really grown in that time too.

“It is the fastest growing business area in the country and one of fastest growing residential areas too.

“It is nice that we have shared the success.

“Manchester and Liverpool often get a lot of the glory, so it is really nice to focus a lot on Warrington – the route between London and Glasgow is key for us.”

In 2004, the company marked a milestone occasion as the first 125mph tilting ‘Pendolino’ trains appeared on its network, with the majority of the Pendolino fleet lengthened to 11 coaches long in 2012 to keep up with growing customer numbers.

Mr Stewart said: “They are fantastic in terms of reliability and the pace they run at on the West Coast.

“That has given us a huge step change in what we are able to do.

“What is really positive as well is that it has been a huge joint industry thing – Network Rail do an incredible job in terms of maintaining the infrastructure and improving reliability.

“We don’t always give each other enough credit.”

Despite the success, Mr Stewart feels that commuters across the town are ‘quite rightly’ expecting more.

He said: “We are a transport business but more importantly we are a service business.

“We are here to look after people while they are on those trains.

“People do expect more. If we go back a few years, wi-fi was a novel concept, as well as being able to order things and make payments on the phone.

“People were scared off in some instances but now it is a normal part of daily life.

“There is a more challenging demand from passengers, which we welcome.

“It is a really good demand, as when people get more and more demanding and expect more of us, it keeps us on our toes and makes us have to be more innovative in what we are doing.

“It is a really positive thing people expecting more and I hope that continues.

“It makes us have to step up and deliver.”

Mr Stewart also highlighted the challenges facing the company.

He added: “The challenge we have got at the moment is our franchise officially runs until March 2018.

“But long-term, as we look ahead, our current expectation is by 2026 we will be up to around 50 million journeys a year and we will be reaching capacity on the WCML at peak times.

“Our long-term outlook is that people will continue to use rail and use it more often.

“We are currently carrying around 37 million passengers a year on this route.

“There is a shift of a different generation in modes of transport.

“People are moving towards public transport and we have to make it easier for people.

“We have to make sure that when they decide to shift to using rail that it is the right decision for them. We want to continue growth.”

Among the 3,566 members of staff on the company’s books are 379 train managers, 954 caterers and 542 drivers.