THE number of Virgin Trains passengers travelling between Edinburgh and London on the East Coast mainline has surpassed one million a year for the first time.

The operator said it has seen eight per cent growth on the route in the 12 months.

It attributed the rise to timetable and customer service improvements and said that a key driver in the growth has been an increase in the number of passengers choosing train over plane.

Virgin Trains said it now has almost a third of the total air/rail market on the route for passengers staying in the UK, an increase of two percentage points between January and September this year - the last month which comparable figures for airline journeys are available.

When people travelling via London airports on international journeys are included it has 25 per cent of the total air/rail market.

Virgin Trains hopes to gain half of the air/rail market by 2023.

David Horne, Virgin Trains managing director on the east coast route, said: "We've set out ambitious plans to take on airlines by investing in our services and we're delighted to see that strategy bearing fruit.

"The growth in rail travel we're announcing today shows that the improvements we've made have been popular with customers, who are voting with their feet. That's good news for passengers, good news for the environment and good for the long-term growth of rail between Scotland and England."

In 2015 Virgin Trains carried 976,000 passengers between Edinburgh and London on the East Coast mainline.

This year it broke through the one million mark in mid December. Final figures for the year will not be available until January.

Scotland's Transport Minister Humza Yousaf MSP said: "It is clear given the huge numbers of passengers now travelling on Virgin East Coast that cross border rail services are more popular than ever, with demand growing year on year."

He added: "More connectivity and more passengers travelling between Edinburgh and major stops en route to London can only be a major boon for business here and I look forward to Scotland feeling all of the benefits."