AN HOURLY train service to London is on the timetable for Wilmslow.

Virgin Rail North West managing director Charles Belcher outlined Virign's proposed service, scheduled to be implemented by the end of 2008, when he visited the town last week to meet business, tourism and community leaders.

It will see three trains an hour travelling between Manchester and the Capital, with one each hour stopping at Wilmslow and hopefully two at peak times.

But commuters can expect more engineering works before the service is running smoothly.

While the £10 billion track upgrade by Network Rail is more or less complete, and compatible with Virgin's state of the art Pendolino trains, Charles explained more tracks are needed between some stations to cope with supplying additional services.

A graduate in ancient history at Liverpool University, Charles has worked in the railway industry for 35 years.

He joined Virgin Trains in May 2003 following similar roles in three other train operating companies and a varied career within British Rail before privatisation, and he is also chairman of the board of National Rail Enquiries.

Enthusiastic about trains being a viable alternative to planes, Charles thinks the improved service will see more and more business commuters switch from air to rail.

With passenger numbers up by 50 per cent since Virgin completed the upgrade to its tilting Pendolino trains, Charles is optimistic more customers will want to use the service.

"Before the upgrade in 2004, 60 pc went by air and 40 pc by rail.

"This has now reversed and we think it could increase to 80 per cent by rail by 2012.

"We recognise demand and hope to introduce the last few people [to the service] who use air to get to London", says Charles who believes that providing new services helps promote the local economy by offering more trade routes.

After the meeting, held at the Stanneylands Hotel, Virgin spokeman Steve Knight said: "We want to understand what people want and we learnt a lot about local businesses as well as getting a lot of feedback about our service.

"There were quite a few comments about the car park and if we are going to have an early service, there will need to be more parking in Wilmslow."

As well as a regular service to London, other plans include adding extra carriages to the trains to increase capacity, improving onboard connectivity to the mobile network and providing wireless internet access, currently being trialled on some services.

Streamlining the tickets process and the introduction of a paperless system are also on the cards.

And with the environmental consequences of travel high on the agenda, Charles says rail offers a greener alternative than flying.

"We are introducing bio-diesel for cross country routes and the inter-city routes are electric and electricity is recycled into the network.

"The Pendolino has a regenerative braking system. When the train brakes, it generates electricity and this is put back into the grid."

With the amount 'recycled' enough to power 20,000 homes for a year or light every home in Britain with a Christmas tree for eight hours a day throughout December, Virgin's extra services may also win the hearts of eco-warriers as well as the town's commuters.