Virgin Trains has announced changes aimed at improving services for Scottish rail users and providing better cross-border links.

Virgin tycoon Sir Richard Branson introduced the new services on Monday as part of a UK-wide relaunch of services offered by Virgin.

The �1bn improvement to the company's cross-country operation will see an extra 31 trains a day on Scottish routes.

For the first time there will be services to Cardiff from Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee.

UK-wide, the relaunch will double Virgin's cross-country services to 215 per day.

Sir Richard: "I hope the nation will be proud"

Sir Richard said it had taken five years to turn the company's "dream for Cross-Country into a reality".

He said: "No other country in Europe will have such an intensive inter-regional service connecting 115 towns and cities with 78 brand new Voyager trains operating at regular frequencies.

"We hope that the nation will be proud of this new asset and leave their cars at home," he added.

Also included in the new services are hourly services from Edinburgh and Berwick to Birmingham via Leeds.

New trains will also run from Edinburgh to Penzance and Bournemouth; from Aberdeen to Bournemouth, and from Dundee and Fife stations to a range of destinations across England and Wales.