LONDON, July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Football fans intending to travel to Glasgow for the friendly match between Glasgow Rangers and Liverpool at Ibrox on Saturday 2 August are advised that there will be no suitable trains for return to Liverpool after the game.

Virgin Trains also warns those travelling from south of Carlisle on Saturday that they should double check train times the day before setting out. They will need to start journeys significantly earlier than normal as there is no guarantee they will reach Ibrox in time for the 1500 kick-off. A similar warning also applies to those travelling from Manchester to the FA Community Shield match between Manchester United and Portsmouth at Wembley on Sunday 10 August.

Route improvement work on the West Coast Main Line means that road coaches will replace trains between Preston and Carlisle all day on Saturday 2 August and until 1300 hours on Sunday 3 August. Journey times will be extended by around two hours.

Details of amended timetables with significantly longer journey times will be available later this week from National Rail Enquiries on http://www.nationalrail.co.uk and +44(0)8457-48-49-50, but times currently shown will no longer apply.

Network Rail is carrying out significant improvement work to prepare for better rail services, but in the meantime this involves more alterations to timetables than were originally expected. Football fans intending to use Virgin Trains on the West Coast Main Line should note that there will be significant changes to rail services every weekend and on some other dates from now until December, involving alternative road transport, diverted trains and increased journey times.

Cities and towns affected include London, Coventry, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Crewe, Liverpool, Manchester, Wigan, Preston, Carlisle and Glasgow.

Notes to Editors

Images of Virgin Trains and the company's operations are available on our online media website http://www.virgintrainsmediaroom.com. You will need to register to access the Media Resources section containing high-resolution images of our operations.

Virgin Trains is the brand name of Virgin Rail Group. We have operated the West Coast passenger train franchise since 1997; the current franchise runs to March 2012.

Virgin Rail Group is owned 51 percent by Virgin Group and 49 percent by Stagecoach.

Virgin Trains has recently been listed as the Best Train Operator in a survey by the Institute of Customer Service; came joint top of the long-distance train operators for passenger satisfaction in the National Passenger Survey and has been voted Best Rail Company by Travel Weekly magazine.