In the hierarchy of celebrity extravagance, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's chartering of a nine-carriage, 439-seat Virgin train to take their brood from London Euston to Glasgow looks right up there with Michael Jackson's old habit of hiring an entire theme park.

The joy of free-market capitalism is that anyone can buy a train for the day: all you need is a spare £15,000 – or £40,000, depending on which report you believe. Virgin charter an average of two trains a week during the football season which take club managers, players and some supporters to away games. Trains – or entire carriages within timetabled services – are also hired for corporate days out and by the occasional wealthy individual. How much for G2's own train? Unfortunately Virgin need two days to get back to us. "It's very much a bespoke product," explains a spokesman.