In March 1997 as part of the privatisation of British Rail, the Virgin Rail Group commenced operating the InterCity West Coast franchise on the West Coast Main Line (WCML) from London Euston to destinations including Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow.
[1] Virgin also took over the CrossCountry franchise that operated across the United Kingdom including services on the WCML from Birmingham to Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
[7] After losing the West Coast franchise, in 2019 Virgin announced that it proposed to seek paths from the Office of Rail & Road (ORR) to operate services from London Euston to Liverpool as an open access operator with InterCity 225 sets that were due to be released from the InterCity East Coast franchise.
[8][9] In May 2024, Virgin announced it had lodged an application with the ORR to operate services on the WCML from London Euston to Birmingham, Liverpool, Rochdale and Glasgow from December 2025.
[10][11][12] Services would initially be operated by former Avanti West Coast Class 221 Bombardier Voyagers, before electric multiple units would be purchased after infrastructure upgrades.