THE rail network may appear to be falling apart but Sir Richard Branson has given travellers in Swindon a glimpse of better times ahead.

He unveiled the first of 78 new 125mph trains set to pass through town as early as next summer.

It, and the already unveiled First Great Western Class 180 locomotive, are the future of Inter-City travel across the South West.

Sir Richard was in Bruges, Belgium, to travel on the new Voyager train, which will run on his company's CrossCountry route next year.

The first two trains are now undergoing testing at speeds of up to 125mph on Belgian railways.

They will enter service next summer on the London-Swindon-Birmingham route and after that one new train will be delivered every week.

Sir Richard said: "Virgin is in rail for the long-haul and the new Voyager fleet will help is put the industry's current problems behind us."

Together with Stagecoach chairman Brian Souter, whose company has a 49 per cent stake in Virgin's rail business, Sir Richard is investing £1 billion in the complete renewal of the CrossCountry fleet over the next two years.

At a ceremony in Bruges, Sir Richard named the first train Maiden Voyager and invited assembled guests to take a ride on it.

The trains are being built by Bombardier Transportation in Bruges and in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

By summer 2003 all services will be on an accelerated timetable on the CrossCountry network which covers the whole of Britain.

The first 34 trains will be non-tilting and the remaining 44 will be tilting Super Voyagers for use on the more curvy West Coast line.

The new trains will have airline-style audio entertainment at every seat with the choice of 10 different channels as well as an on-board shop to replace the old-style buffet.

Virgin Trains chief executive Chris Green said: "The Voyager fleet is one of the largest UK train orders and will see 352 new coaches in service by the end of 2002."

Jacques Lamotte, president of Bombardier Transportation Atlantic Europe, said: "We are proud to be associated with Virgin's ambitious project to rejuvenate the CrossCountry network."

The new trains account for £390m of the contract and the maintenance portion represents about £670m.

The new First Great Western train, which will serve Swindon travellers to London, Bristol, South Wales and the Cotswolds, is part of an £80m investment which will see new engines running by next May.