LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM -- (Marketwire) -- 12/11/12 -- Passengers travelling through Nottingham train station this week (w/c 10th Dec 2012) will receive an unexpected festive treat as the 'East Midlands Trains Elves' descend on the station to hand out complimentary mince pies.

Thousands of mince pies will be given out to passengers by the team of elves at Nottingham station during the afternoon and evening of Monday 10, Tuesday 11 and Wednesday 12 December. In addition to the mince pies, a Christmas tree is now on display in the booking office.

Andy Moore, Head of Stations for East Midlands Trains, said: "We wanted to give a thank you to our passengers for their patience and understanding whilst the important improvement work takes place at Nottingham station.

"We hope that this gesture will help passengers get into the Christmas spirit and they enjoy the complimentary mince pies from East Midlands Trains."

Nottingham station is currently undergoing a multi-million pound improvement scheme which will see the station transformed into a world-class transport hub. These improvement works will take place over the next 18 months and will help to create a smarter, better, greener station that everyone in Nottingham can be proud of.

For more information, visit eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/nottingham. A mini map is now available at the station providing details of the changes and useful information for passengers using Nottingham station.

For information about Christmas services or special offers available during the Christmas and New Year period, visit eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/Christmas. This year, there will be no planned engineering work affecting East Midlands Trains services however passengers are advised to check in advance of travel.

Notes to Editors

For media enquiries, please contact East Midlands Trains on 01738 442111. Out of office hours: An on-call service operates for urgent media enquiries out of hours. To access this service, please call 08448 222888 and quote MEDIA1. Please leave a short message, including your name, media organisation, phone number and the nature of your enquiry. The on call press officer will then return your call.

For a selection of East Midlands Trains images visit www.flickr.com/photos/eastmidlandstrains.

East Midlands Trains

- East Midlands Trains, part of the Stagecoach Group, runs fast, frequent trains from and to London St Pancras International and key UK destinations throughout the East Midlands, including Leicester, Derby, Sheffield, Nottingham, Manchester and Liverpool.

- East Midlands Trains is currently investing over GBP 40 million to improve stations across its network and every single passenger train within its fleet.

- East Midlands Trains is committed to offering great value fares. Use the Best Fare Finder to search for cheap train tickets and book cheap train tickets to London and on more than 400 routes across the UK.

Stagecoach Group

--  Stagecoach Group is a leading international public transport group, with
    extensive operations in the UK, United States and Canada. The Group
    employs around 35,000 people, and operates bus, coach, train, and tram
    services. 
--  Stagecoach is one of UK's biggest bus and coach operators with around
    7,800 buses and coaches. Around 2.5 million passengers travel on
    Stagecoach's buses every day on a network stretching from south-west
    England to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The Group's business
    includes major city bus operations in London, Liverpool, Newcastle,
    Hull, Manchester, Oxford, Sheffield and Cambridge. Low-cost coach
    service, megabus.com, operates between around 60 towns and cities across
    the UK. 
--  Stagecoach is a major UK rail operator, running the South West Trains,
    Island Line and East Midlands Trains networks. It has a 49% shareholding
    in Virgin Rail Group, which operates the West Coast inter-city rail
    franchise. 
--  Stagecoach also operates the Supertram light rail network in Sheffield. 
--  In North America, Stagecoach operates around 2,900 buses and coaches in
    the United States and Canada. Megabus.com links around 100 key locations
    in North America. Stagecoach is also involved in operating commuter and
    transit services, contracted bus services, charters, sightseeing tours
    and a small number of school bus services.