Virgin Trains opens new First Class Lounge at Newcastle Central Station

It is the first of eight lounges between London and Edinburgh to receive a full makeover - which includes a capacity increase and more stylish options for guests to work and relax. The other seven lounges will open in the next few weeks. The improvements precede the introduction of new, faster services linking the North East with the capital. The new lounges feature furniture in ‘Virgin red’, while large montages of UK skylines adorn the walls. features include new meeting points, desks for customers to work, Wi-Fi and powerpoints, soft drinks, snacks and newspapers. The Newcastle lounge can now host 68 customers – more than three times the previous capacity - following an increase of 6% in First Class travel in the first year since Virgin Trains took over the East Coast route. Lounges at Darlington and Berwick will open in the next week, with lounges at London King’s Cross, Edinburgh, Leeds, Wakefield and Doncaster stations also set to join Newcastle in having a Virgin-style makeover. Managing director, David Horne, said: “For us, this is part of the bigger picture – our mission to transform every aspect of the experience that travellers have with us. The North East is one of our most important markets and we are committed to improving services with new trains , new services and the fastest trains, and the investment in stations. “We are investing £10m into our 12 stations, investing in station facilities, upgrading them for both first class and standard passengers.” The lunge improvements come after Virgin Trains invested £21m in refurbishing its trains, including the addition of leather seats in First Class, as well as new carpets and mood-lighting.