During the off-peak period, three trains each hour will run between the two cities, with even more during peak hours. Off-peak trains will leave Birmingham every 20 minutes and will take just one hour and 21 minutes to complete the 115 mile journey to London at an average speed of 86.25 mph. The fastest train of the day is planned to take just one hour and 12 minutes to reach the capital. Eight trains are planned to arrive in London before 09.00, three more than in today's timetable.

Virgin expects to provide over 50 trains each weekday from Birmingham New Street to London Euston, most of which will also call at Birmingham International and Coventry. A regular hourly service will be provided to Rugby, Milton Keynes and Watford Junction.

The new timetable will provide more than 6,500 additional seats between Birmingham and London each weekday. And the good news for weekend travellers is that a 20 minute interval service is being planned for much of the day on Saturdays and Sundays.

Virgin Trains Business Development Director Tim Shoveller said: "This is great news for Birmingham and the first time that a long distance inter city service has operated at a frequency normally only seen on suburban rail networks. The improved journey time effectively turns London into a suburb of Birmingham! With a 20 minute frequency passengers can throw away the timetable", he added.

There will also be improvements to the Birmingham to Scotland services, with an hourly service to either Glasgow or Edinburgh via Crewe, Preston and Carlisle. The journey time between Birmingham and Glasgow will be reduced to less than four hours.