Branson: Rail deal 'perfect early Christmas present'
Sir Richard Branson wrote in his blog that it was a "perfect early Christmas present" to learn that Virgin Trains will run the West Coast Main Line for a further 23-months.
He said: "It has been a long journey to get to this point, but we won’t be resting on our laurels and intend to keep improving services for our loyal customers."
On Twitter he said the deal was "reward for hard work and bravery of the team".
How did the Department for Transport go off the rails?
Remember the Virgin Trains mess? Later an official report into what went wrong will be made public.
Government admits Virgin holding up West Coast contract
The Government has been forced to admit the profitable West Coast Main Line contract has yet to be signed, thanks to a legal bid by Virgin.