Virgin Rail is in trouble with its passengers again after another York train broke down.

The diesel locomotive - heading to Bristol from Newcastle via York - was stranded in Staffordshire after running out of fuel.

Passengers had to wait 45 minutes for another engine to arrive and tow the train to Birmingham, eventually arriving almost 100 minutes late.

Virgin said the fuel problems arose after one of the train's two engines broke down before it left Newcastle.

The remaining unit had to do all the work and burnt fuel twice as fast as normal so that it ran out.

Virgin apologised for the delays and promised all passengers compensation. "This is very unusual and unfortunate," said a spokeswoman.

The incident comes less than a week after another Virgin train, from Plymouth to York, failed to make it because of engine failure.

As the Evening Press reported last week, passengers were eventually taken by coach and taxi to York, arriving almost six hours late. Virgin said it had been suffering a lot of problems with old rolling stock inherited from British Rail, but new trains were on order and would be delivered by the end of 2001.

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