As Network Rail ramps up the work on its £35bn five year plan to improve Britain's railway it marks the completion of one of its biggest re-building projects with a new advertising campaign.

One of Britain's best loved actors and Mancunian Bernard Hill (Theoden in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy) provides the voiceover for the television commercial which airs for the first time today.

The campaign showcases the major upgrade on the West Coast main line which has slashed journey times and resulted in more trains with more seats for passengers. It celebrates British engineering at its best and underlines the fact that Network Rail has a massive array of projects ongoing across the country and is looking for high calibre people to help deliver them.

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Network Rail's chief executive, Iain Coucher said: "We are justifiably proud of what we have achieved on the West Coast main line - Europe's busiest mixed use railway. Built in the 19th century, we have rebuilt it for the 21st. The campaign highlights the huge benefits for passengers and we hope this will persuade more people to get out of their car, shun internal flights and get on the train - the most environmentally-friendly option.

"Passengers are voting with their feet already - in 2004 rail only took a one-third share of London to Manchester journeys. Today it takes two-thirds and is still growing."

Mr Coucher added: "The West Coast programme shows that Network Rail can deliver on major projects. It was difficult at times and we have built on these experiences to improve our delivery ever since. In the next few years we will transform Britain's railways with schemes such as Thameslink, Airdrie-Bathgate, Reading and the Great Western line, Crossrail, Birmingham New Street, King's Cross and the Glasgow airport link. This is an exciting time to work on the railway and we are looking for world class people to join our team to make this a reality."

(CD/JM)