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Virgin Trains has proposed a radical reform to rail services in the UK in the hopes of eliminating overcrowding and complex ticketing systems.

It comes after the company was blocked from renewing its West Coast franchise - meaning it'll disappear from North Wales after March 2020.

The train operator has however announced its plans for the future of rail in the UK, which it has submitted to the Williams Rail Review.

Launched by the Government in September 2018, the review was set up to look into the structure of the industry and to consider reforms which would benefit customers and taxpayers.

Virgin Trains' proposal, which draws on more than 20 years of operating long-distance rail services, aims to transform services to be operated along similar principles to airline routes.

What would the proposals mean for passengers?

It's important to note that at this point the reform is just a proposal - though it could become a reality in the near future.

If that were to happen, services would introduce reservation-only tickets with the aim of making standing on trains a thing of the past.

This would mean "guaranteed" seats for "every customer" in normal operations, ultimately preventing passengers from boarding long-distance trains without a reservation.

Virgin Trains' submission also hopes to get rid of the confusing mix of tickets passengers receive, as they'd replace this with airline-style ticketing -with one fare available at any given time for any one service.

(Image: Rui Vieira/PA Wire)

This, the company says, would provide an incentive for train operators to sell all seats on services as well as encouraging investment over the long term.

And passengers would also benefit from greater competition across the market as well as operators being given more freedom to respond to customer demand - instead of "overly specified franchises" and regulation.

This greater choice for customers in who to travel with would likely drive the quality of services up and fares down as operators compete with one another in both auctions and the general market.

Although the reforms could be applied across the UK, Virgin Train's submission suggests the East Coast route or new HS2 services would be the most straightforward initial starting points for the new system.

Patrick McCall, from the Virgin Group, said the review offered a "once in a generation" opportunity, but admitted the reform "will not be an easy fix" though its a necessary one.

"We must develop a system which optimises the benefits for passengers, taxpayers and communities and which enables train companies to evolve as the world evolves around them. We must be both visionary and pragmatic," he added.

Mr McCall added that the submission was written before the decision to disqualify the company's West Coast bid, but noted that the recommendations are "more pertinent than ever" now as "it is clear we need systemic industry reform which is driven by principles and a whole-system redesign".