J-2739
Established Member
I've only gone on Virgin Trains once, but one thing that annoyed me (for some reason), was the fact that the announcements never informed of the final destination on the calling pattern.
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Most annoying aspect of travelling on Virgin Trains
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virgintrain1
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Think that's just the auto announcements and PIS on Voyagers. "Calling at the following principal stations"
At: 1m03s
realaledrinker
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Got to the end of Page 2 and these all seem to be 'first world' problems.
Nobody complained about punctuality..... in the end that's all that matters most of the time.
I just think careful of what you wish for. I just don't see any presumptive West Coast operator coming close. HS2 or no HS2
Nobody complained about punctuality..... in the end that's all that matters most of the time.
I just think careful of what you wish for. I just don't see any presumptive West Coast operator coming close. HS2 or no HS2
Facing Back
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A few of the points were around affordability I think, I'd argue that isn't entirely a first world problem but I take your point.
Safety, reliability, punctuality all seem pretty good to me.
Safety, reliability, punctuality all seem pretty good to me.
VT 390
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Was it the automated announcements? As whenever I have travelled usually says the final destination at the start of the calling pattern announcement.
J-2739
Established Member
It was the Pendolino announcements I was talking about.
And again, the inference that no-one should complain about anything if someone else unrelated may be suffering far more. It is incredible the number of times I see this logical fallacy being committed.
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/First_world_problems
Do the people who like to use this phrase believe that everyone in a developing country is so engaged in day-to-day survival, that they never complain about irritating or annoying things, or general crapness that inflicts minor to moderate inconvenience or costs? It is like trying to deny the developing world's population their emotions and humanity.
BluePenguin
On Moderation
Not enough stop at Watford Junction either. Getting there from Clapham Junction and further south is much easier and avoids Euston altogether.
Lack of seat reservations being displayed on the screen is my main bugbear, I like to sit back and relax not worry that some random customer is going to turn up and start an argument that I’m sat in their booked seats. What’s worse is that the screens often spring into life at some random point in the journey.
The continual “crew calls” are also exceptionally annoying, almost as irritating is how irregular travellers look around the carriage in some level of panic every time it goes off.
And finally the ticket examiners at Euston. A significant number of which seem to be lacking in social skills because they either ignore people and don’t say anything aside from snide comments or are extremely rude.
The continual “crew calls” are also exceptionally annoying, almost as irritating is how irregular travellers look around the carriage in some level of panic every time it goes off.
And finally the ticket examiners at Euston. A significant number of which seem to be lacking in social skills because they either ignore people and don’t say anything aside from snide comments or are extremely rude.
VT 390
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I notice a lot of people have mentioned seat reservations not working but I have never had any issues with them not working on a Pendolino or Voyager.
Mountain Man
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Just tell them to move. Nothing wrong with sitting in a reserved seat until the station its actually reserved from
a_c_skinner
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Easy. Glasgow direct trains not stopping at Crewe.
Yeah , some journeys require two changes , Derby for example at Preston and Crewe
They have changed the wording on the screens , for me from Glasgow they dont seem to say if its reserved at the origin ,just reserved from Lancaster for example . Sat in a seat and someone came with a reservation .
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
The Euston barrier staff also seem to lack clue with regard to ticket validity, too. Is there anything they are good at?
Harbornite
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Nothing really, me (and I bet the vast majority of normal passengers) don't give a **** about talking toilets. For improvements, I suggest making all pendos 11 car and bringing back 86/2s/ 87s/ 90s on mark 2s and mark 3s for Wolverhampton services...
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Harbornite
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EE Andy b1
Established Member
We might struggle with bringing back Class 86/2s and Mk2s now!
How boring would life be if everyone liked the same thing?
Just shows on here that everyone has such a different opinion and that's how it should be.
One things for sure, love them or loathe them, when Virgin have gone you will certainly know that they have gone, and under the WCP they would have been basically in name only! Not now though.
Ridiculous shortage of windows on pendolinos. 4.5 hours to Glasgow staring at a wall and seat back? No thanks.
Reservation signs not working, which seems to be fairly often. Especially frustrating when travelling without reservations.
Toilet stink in vestibules. Seems to be on a lot of their trains, both pendos and voyagers.
Running diesels hundreds of miles under the wires just to do a short hop off juice to somewhere like Chester, or indeed London to Glasgows fully under the wires.
But my biggest gripe is the ticket examiners at Euston... and barrier staff at a number of other locations too. Show them a priv ticket and say a friendly hello and just get treated with scorn and rudeness. Never known railway colleagues to be as rude to other rail staff as the bulk of Virgin ticket examiners. I've met a few good ones but in the main I find them officious, cold and unpleasant. Its odd because I've generally found Virgin staff in other grades to be absolutely fine.
Reservation signs not working, which seems to be fairly often. Especially frustrating when travelling without reservations.
Toilet stink in vestibules. Seems to be on a lot of their trains, both pendos and voyagers.
Running diesels hundreds of miles under the wires just to do a short hop off juice to somewhere like Chester, or indeed London to Glasgows fully under the wires.
But my biggest gripe is the ticket examiners at Euston... and barrier staff at a number of other locations too. Show them a priv ticket and say a friendly hello and just get treated with scorn and rudeness. Never known railway colleagues to be as rude to other rail staff as the bulk of Virgin ticket examiners. I've met a few good ones but in the main I find them officious, cold and unpleasant. Its odd because I've generally found Virgin staff in other grades to be absolutely fine.
Now that you mention it, the barrier staff at VT stations do seem to give PT cards a long stare (more so than other TOCs) before moving, slowly, to release the gates. And that's after you've stood there for ages waiting to attract their attention, and for them to tear themselves away from talking to each other.
Well, how many "Wolverhampton" VT services are there now that most of them go through to/from Scotland?
Scotrail314209
Established Member
Nothing really annoys me about VT, I do really like them.
However, the fact that some plug sockets are 75% of the time not working, especially on 9 car pendolinos is bad.
However, the fact that some plug sockets are 75% of the time not working, especially on 9 car pendolinos is bad.
I think it's the Beam announcement that found most annoying. Too chirpy, the annoying aaah at the end and played far too often.
Aside from that I thought the Pendo was a nice train overall, aside from the very tiny windows. Even sat at a window seat, you don't see much and it's a real shame on the northern section of the route. On a Mk3 you get good views from other windows and not just your own.
Still,it meant I got a bit more work done...
Aside from that I thought the Pendo was a nice train overall, aside from the very tiny windows. Even sat at a window seat, you don't see much and it's a real shame on the northern section of the route. On a Mk3 you get good views from other windows and not just your own.
Still,it meant I got a bit more work done...
3rd rail land
Member
If they wish to promote Beam couldn't they stick some kind of notice on the back of each seat or perhaps the back of each drop down table? Then people can choose whether to read or ignore it and not be subject to hearing the announcement at every stop.
Which is exactly what they did on the East Coast route. I think they put stickers on literally every seat back!
It always seems like such a pointless service anyway to me. Does anyone actually use it? I'd be far more likely to download something from Netflix or iPlayer or whatever than watch/listen to something from a carefully curated collection.
Yeah , they put notices on the back of seats . Is beam even well used ?
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
The Pendolino window issue isn't so much about the height of them, as the seats are of the correct height to see out. It's more about the number of seats against a pillar, which to some extent (same as the 80x) is due to a poorly thought through layout (which generally gives one seat with most of the window and the ones either side with almost none, rather than about half each) rather than due to the pillar itself (though I do recognise that units with narrower pillars e.g. 170s mean there aren't really any truly rubbish seats).
One thing I found quite interesting on a long 80x ride yesterday was that those "non-window" window seats were the last to be taken (and were empty for the majority of the trip), but there were people on the side that wasn't sunny who had the blinds down the whole time. Why not just take a non-window seat and keep the windows for those who wish to look out? (This was in the unreserved coach both ways so it wasn't due to a reserved seat).
J-2739
Established Member
Perhaps they like the reassurance of a window?
kristiang85
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Even with a blind, you still get "natural" lighting through it.
Virgin's dim yellow lighting is not pleasant in those window-less seats.
Virgin's dim yellow lighting is not pleasant in those window-less seats.
Brummigrant
Member
The leap between Advance and Super Off-Peak has always annoyed me - £15 difference just to have the freedom to get on one of 5 trains that are both likely to be fairly empty.
The air conditioning feels a bit plane-y, like I should be having people come along with a moist toilette because the air is so dry.
Other than that, which isn't their fault, is the ridiculous paths they get given on Saturday nights due to works on WCML. Nothing worse than having to spend up to an extra hour on a Pendolino.
The air conditioning feels a bit plane-y, like I should be having people come along with a moist toilette because the air is so dry.
Other than that, which isn't their fault, is the ridiculous paths they get given on Saturday nights due to works on WCML. Nothing worse than having to spend up to an extra hour on a Pendolino.
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