A Virgin Trains Pendolino made the 401 mile journey in 3 hours and 55 minutes - knocking 19 minutes off the record set 25 years ago.

It is the first sub-four hour journey from Glasgow to London and the operator said it showed what had been achieved by Pendolino trains and a line upgrade.

The £30,000 raised from ticket sales will go to a charity providing motorbikes for the delivery of healthcare in Africa.

The train left Glasgow Central station at 1237 BST precisely, carrying 400 passengers and arrived at Euston station in London at 1632 BST.

Speaking before he boarded the train, Virgin West Coast Trains Managing Director Charles Belcher said: "It's going to be a nail-biting event from beginning to end."

"We want to run this train at under four hours from here to London and demonstrate what can be done and then turn that into a reality on a regular basis."

Before setting off, the train was officially named Heaven's Angels by Nick Pigott of Railway Magazine.

Heaven's Angels is the name of the Virgin-supported charity which is receiving more than £30,000 as a result of the landmark journey.

The previous record was set by British Rail's ill-fated tilting Advanced Passenger Train in the early 1980s.

Billions of pounds have been spent on upgrading the West Coast Main Line.

The record attempt coincides with Virgin's announcement that its West Coast punctuality has improved from 80% of trains running on time in June 2005 to 88% in June 2006.