Virgin Trains tempts domestic flyers with thousands of free First Class train tickets

Virgin Trains is again going head to head with airlines in a drive to get people off domestic flights and onto more environmentally friendly trains by offering 12,500 flyers free train tickets to sample environmentally-friendly train travel and reduce their carbon footprint.

The Plane Relief Plus campaign allows flights taken during April and May to qualify for the offer making it ideal for travellers planning to take a trip for one or both of the forthcoming May bank holiday weekends.

Air travellers can log onto the dedicated website www.planerelief.com for details on how they can swap their used airline boarding card from flights between London and Manchester, Liverpool or Glasgow for a free First Class return train journey anywhere on the Virgin trains West Coast network. Passengers will receive a code in return for their boarding pass, which enables them to book their rail journey free on the website. The free First Class train tickets are available for use until October.

The facts are that Pendolino trains emit at least 76 percent less CO2 than cars and 78 percent less than domestic flights. Also they return 17 percent of electricity used back to the National Grid every time they brake - enough to provide power for 11,825 homes for a year or to brew 2.6 billion cups of tea. Virgin Trains is also carrying out a biofuel test using one of its engines with a view to running its CrossCountry Voyager fleet on biofuel.

The campaign forms part of a company-wide environmental drive in addressing the effect our transport choices make on the environment. The aim is to encourage passengers to take the train instead of the plane when travelling in the UK, and to be aware of the negative effects of domestic air travel on the environment.

Virgin Trains is currently running a �Go Greener. Go Cheaper� marketing campaign, part of a consistent push to take on domestic airlines on speed, price, frequency and environmental credentials. This follows on from the first Plane Relief campaign in March 2006, which allowed flyers from London to Manchester to swap their used boarding cards for a free Virgin Trains First Class ticket. Almost 2,500 flyers took the green option and cashed in their boarding cards.

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Notes to Editors Offer is available to airline passengers who fly from London to Liverpool, Manchester or Glasgow (and vice versa) in April and May. There are 12,500 free Virgin Trains First Class return tickets, which will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. For full details of the free First Class ticket promotion, called Plane Relief Plus, visit www.planerelief.com

Virgin Trains is the brand name of Virgin Rail Group and operates two rail franchises - West Coast Trains and CrossCountry Trains. Virgin CrossCountry began on 05 January 1997 with Virgin West Coast following on 09 March 1997. Virgin Rail Group is bidding to win the New CrossCountry franchise which is due to start in November 2007. The Virgin Group of Companies, in partnership with Stagecoach Group, has been shortlisted for the Intercity East Coast franchise, which is expected to be in place in late Autumn 2007. Virgin Rail Group is owned 51 percent by Virgin Group and 49 percent by Stagecoach. Virgin Rail Group is owned 51 per cent by Virgin Group and 49 per cent by Stagecoach Group.

Virgin Trains Media Information All Virgin Trains Press Releases and general information about our West Coast and CrossCountry operations can be found on the Virgin Trains media website at www.virgintrainsmediaroom.com Also available is a Media Resources section containing around 100 high-resolution images which can be freely downloaded for editorial use. You will need to register to access the Media Resource section and you can choose to have our press releases e-mailed to you as soon as they are issued.

For further information contact The Virgin Trains Press Office Tel: 0870 789 1111

For further media information contact Laura Wilson laura@exposure.net 020 7907 7208