ITV News

Shortly before midnight on Saturday, the last ever Virgin Trains service will roll into Wolverhampton station. Much has changed in the two decades the operator has run services, but the brand's red emblazoned carriages have remained stoic. Running its first service in 1997, the brand inherited rolling stock originally built in the 1960s. It had pledged to update the trains. And it did: in 2001 it delivered the Voyager, capable of 125mph; it had an onboard shop to replace trolley service and airline style entertainment system built in to the seats. A year later, bringing in a new delivery of tilting rolling stock in the form of the Pendolino, which brought British train transport on par with the likes of other European nations. The company broke a speed record on the London to Manchester route in 2004, arriving in the northern industrial city in less than two hours, shaving off 15 minutes. The prime minister at the time, Tony Blair, was one of the passengers on board and hailed it "a great day for the whole of the rail network". Five years, the Grayrigg rail disaster saw a Glasgow-bound service derail in Cumbria, killing one and injuring more than 80 people.