BIRMINGHAM, Bristol and Edinburgh are all within reach for York passengers for less than £15, as Virgin slashes prices in an attempt to win back customers.

The heavily-criticised train company is preparing itself for a massive influx of passengers during the next four weeks as all its fares are slashed by 50 per cent.

From today until March 4 all tickets priced by Virgin trains will be cut in half, for example:

York to Birmingham advanced purchase £6

York to Edinburgh advanced purchase £12.50

York to Bristol advanced purchase £15.

Extra staff will be on hand at stations and for telesales during the first few days of the promotion when bookings for advance purchase tickets are expected to be particularly high.

"It is true that as a result of the disruption to services since October, some rail passengers have either chosen not to travel or have transferred to road or air," said Mark Furlong, executive commercial director of Virgin Trains.

"Things are improving and we want to encourage them back in the belief that our fares freeze together with our half-price promotion will help.

"We are now able to operate nearly 90 per cent of our services, and although journey times are slightly longer than normal, passengers can now rely upon a safe, reliable and competitive service."

Virgin has came in for much criticism recently with delays and disruption plaguing travellers on cross country routes from York.

Virgin has blamed post-Hatfield speed restrictions and severe weather conditions for the problems.

A spokesman for Virgin said: "We have had problems with our rolling stock following flooding around the country and Railtrack-imposed speed restrictions."

She said slower trains and withdrawn rolling stock were necessary in the interest of passenger safety but 90 per cent of services were now running.

But she said the new initiative was intended to restore passenger confidence and get people back on the trains.

GNER, which operates trains on the East Coast mainline, is expected to slash fares later this year as part of its recovery plan - Operation Springboard.

Updated: 16:14 Tuesday, February 06, 2001