Most annoying aspect of travelling on Virgin Trains

RailWonderer · 8 Jul 2019

As for seat reservations I sometimes see they don't work but when they do, and you see something like 'Reserved until Coventry' and no one sits there the whole time shows someone books an advance for a cheaper fare then sees the train is nearly empty so sits wherever they like. I do that sometimes myself. But the only other thing is they always try and shake things up when they don't need to. Eradicating walk up fares removes freedom for passengers. I want to have the freedom to maybe decide to go the pharmacy, get something to eat and catch the train 20 mins later not have to schedule my day around transport, otherwise I would just drive to Manchester for example. We need to protect walk up fares VT are trying to get rid of.

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Matt_pool · 8 Jul 2019

Got a Pendolino on Saturday to Liverpool and all seats in Coach D were showing as "Reserved from London Euston". Not sure if was just Coach D or the whole train (probably the latter).

We had no reservations so sat at a table, then 4 people got on at Nuneaton and we were sat in their reserved seats. I just told them there was a fault with the reservations and they could sit wherever they wanted, which they did because there were plenty of empty seats, albeit airline seats not aligned with the windows. Some had no window at all!

In general I have no real gripes with Virgin Trains or the Pendolino's. As long as you get a seat aligned with a window and ignore the announcements they are okay.

But give me a class 87 and a rake of Mk.3 carriages any day!

Mag_seven · 8 Jul 2019

Matt_pool said:
But give me a class 87 and a rake of Mk.3 carriages any day!

Seconded!

Blinkbonny · 10 Jul 2019

I noticed yesterday that the toilet voice has changed. it is now Fiona from Glasgow who informs us that she has won a competition.

As Private Eye pointed out, strange competition where the prize is to come and work for nothing!

route101 · 10 Jul 2019

Bletchleyite said:
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).

Some people would rather watch something on their device and take care whats out the window it seems .
The 390 seats and window feel low down to me.

route101 · 10 Jul 2019

Matt_pool said:
Got a Pendolino on Saturday to Liverpool and all seats in Coach D were showing as "Reserved from London Euston". Not sure if was just Coach D or the whole train (probably the latter).

We had no reservations so sat at a table, then 4 people got on at Nuneaton and we were sat in their reserved seats. I just told them there was a fault with the reservations and they could sit wherever they wanted, which they did because there were plenty of empty seats, albeit airline seats not aligned with the windows. Some had no window at all!

In general I have no real gripes with Virgin Trains or the Pendolino's. As long as you get a seat aligned with a window and ignore the announcements they are okay.

But give me a class 87 and a rake of Mk.3 carriages any day!

What the screen says appears to have changed , i cant understand it . I was sat in someones seat , when it said reserved from Wigan much further down the line.

Bletchleyite · 10 Jul 2019

route101 said:
What the screen says appears to have changed , i cant understand it . I was sat in someones seat , when it said reserved from Wigan much further down the line.

I suspect you weren't and they got it wrong, that or they had downloaded the wrong ones. Did you ask to see their reservation, as I tend to if I believe I'm in the right?

route101 · 10 Jul 2019

Bletchleyite said:
I suspect you weren't and they got it wrong, that or they had downloaded the wrong ones. Did you ask to see their reservation, as I tend to if I believe I'm in the right?

I never asked , it appears that the screens dont show if its reserved from the origin ie Glasgow where i got the service . Few weeks before my reservation was not showing and i was in correct seat .

trebor79 · 10 Jul 2019

The reservations show "Reserved from X". Shortly after departing X, they change to show "Available if unoccupied".
Seems to work quite well, although I did have to turf someone out of my seat when I travelled from Birmingham to Glasgow. Twas ever thus, regularly turfed people out of my seat on a crammed Voyager or HST back in the day I was doing Bristol to the north east on a regular basis. Paper Vs electronic reservations don't seem to make any difference to people's behaviour.

GrimShady · 10 Jul 2019

Everything about virgin is cheap and tacky including their stupid, excessively familiar advertising.

Glad to see them go finally.

The coach K shenanigans still goes on to this day!

Trackman · 10 Jul 2019

Brummigrant said:
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.

I'm sure the air-con makes me ill.
I'm always coughing once I'm off it and headache (I do not smoke or have any chest complaint nor suffer from regular headaches)
Someone reckoned it was the pollution in London, but the same happens on the return journey.
It doesn't happen every time, but I'm not 100% after a long journey.
If I'm on a TPE train for over 2 hours I'm fresh as a daisy, so I suspect the Pendolino.

VT 390 · 11 Jul 2019

Blinkbonny said:
I noticed yesterday that the toilet voice has changed. it is now Fiona from Glasgow who informs us that she has won a competition.

As Private Eye pointed out, strange competition where the prize is to come and work for nothing!

They must have different voices then as when I travelled it was a man from Manchester.

duncanp · 11 Jul 2019

Glad to see them go finally.

I think it depends on who takes over from Virgin.

I sincerely hope, for example, that the new operator of the franchise does not introduce the ridiculous 10 minute reservation system that they have on Cross Country, whereby you can be turfed out of a seat that was unoccupied and unreserved when you got on the train.

Virgin losing the franchise does not in itself mean that the Pendolinos are going to disappear, so any issues will still remain.

I would like to see the new operator reduce the price of weekend first upgrades, which from Birmingham to London have doubled from £10 to £20 in recent years.

Bletchleyite · 11 Jul 2019

duncanp said:
I would like to see the new operator reduce the price of weekend first upgrades, which from Birmingham to London have doubled from £10 to £20 in recent years.

I'd personally rather they binned Weekend First off and replaced it with all First Class fares being 1.5-1.6x their respective Standard fare.

smtglasgow · 11 Jul 2019

I’ve always hated Virgin’s ‘matey’ schtick. The on-board staff are almost all excellent, but after too many 2am arrivals in Glasgow, or being turfed out at Preston to catch the train behind, ‘Arrive Awesome’ doesn’t really work for me. I’m usually travelling for work so I use the off-peak return for flexibility, but decent advances on useful trains seem like a memory. Anecdotally, friends seem to be sticking with Easyjet, with high train fares their most common excuse.

Personally, I’m fine with the Pendolinos and I think we forget just how transformative the VHF timetable was – when everything's working well on the WCML, 4 and a half hours from Glasgow to London still seems pretty good to me.

duncanp · 11 Jul 2019

I'd personally rather they binned Weekend First off and replaced it with all First Class fares being 1.5-1.6x their respective Standard fare.

This would work from Birmingham , as 1.5 times the standard class off peak return to London (£56.70) would be £85.05, as opposed to £96.70 for an off peak return plus two weekend first upgrades (£20 each way.

However it would not work from somewhere further afield such as Glasgow, where the cost of a standard class off peak return (£147) plus two weekend upgrades (£60) would be £207, whereas 1.5 times £147 is £220.50.

Djgr · 11 Jul 2019

"I sincerely hope, for example, that the new operator of the franchise does not introduce the ridiculous 10 minute reservation system that they have on Cross Country, whereby you can be turfed out of a seat that was unoccupied and unreserved when you got on the train."

Of course you can set one of these up yourself by text even when actually on the Cross Country train. But yes it's pants.

RandomRailways · 11 Jul 2019

Like many on here - talking toilets. You really have to wonder about the people who think this stuff up...

And the Pendolinos - claustrophobic, not enough legroom, tiny windows, thinking that they look more like an aircraft interior than a train. I travel by rail for several reasons, one of them being I don't like cramped claustropobic aircraft interiors!

The whole matey style of advertising - many TOC's do this now, but Virgin seem to excel at it

hibtastic · 11 Jul 2019

I like the pendolinos however I wish they had a power socket at every seat rather than just the tables. Sick of everyone running at Euston and then cramming round tables when usually there are plenty other seats free.

Also the WiFi is shocking, and the fact phones are next to useless when travelling onboard.

Apart from that great, they offer me a service every 20 mins to London and I have hardly ever had any issues and I use them every week.

brad465 · 11 Jul 2019

Ditto everything about announcements (as in every automated announcement that exists in toilets and train alike).

Something that annoys me and is also a problem now on IETs is the incorporation of the blind into the long windows, where I could want to look out the window but the person in the row infront has it down and I'm forced to peek down underneath because the same blind stretches into my row (I don't like to get into arguments)

. It would be better if curtain blinds were used that allowed only half the window to be blocked out, even if it would be less "aesthetic-looking" :idea:

kristiang85 · 11 Jul 2019

brad465 said:
Ditto everything about announcements (as in every automated announcement that exists in toilets and train alike).

Something that annoys me and is also a problem now on IETs is the incorporation of the blind into the long windows, where I could want to look out the window but the person in the row infront has it down and I'm forced to peek down underneath because the same blind stretches into my row (I don't like to get into arguments) . It would be better if curtain blinds were used that allowed only half the window to be blocked out, even if it would be less "aesthetic-looking"

Some of the TGVs in France (I think, or is it the ICEs in Germany?) are like this too; it is annoying.

Bletchleyite · 11 Jul 2019

kristiang85 said:
Some of the TGVs in France (I think, or is it the ICEs in Germany?) are like this too; it is annoying.

The conflict would be avoided with a little sticker, like the way the French used to have on opening windows, stating "If there is a disagreement as to the state of the blind, it must be fully open/fully closed[1]".

[1] Pick one, it barely matters.

6Gman · 11 Jul 2019

And another one ...

If you send them a complaint their response will generally be little, or nothing, to do with the issue you have raised.

e.g. I complained that their inattentive barrier staff (talking to each other instead of manning the gate) caused me to miss a train.

"We are sorry your experience on this occasion ... blah, blah ... aim to make your experience a positive one ... blah, blah ... we always have staff on the platform available to help with any issues ..."

So, are you going to do anything about your staff talking to each other instead of attending to passengers?

Bletchleyite · 11 Jul 2019

Not reading things properly is standard "customer service" practice and is what you get when staff are incentivised by the number of cases they deal with rather than by positive outcomes.

route101 · 11 Jul 2019

trebor79 said:
The reservations show "Reserved from X". Shortly after departing X, they change to show "Available if unoccupied".
Seems to work quite well, although I did have to turf someone out of my seat when I travelled from Birmingham to Glasgow. Twas ever thus, regularly turfed people out of my seat on a crammed Voyager or HST back in the day I was doing Bristol to the north east on a regular basis. Paper Vs electronic reservations don't seem to make any difference to people's behaviour.

My seat from Glasgow only was showing reserved from Preston . Seems difficult at Glasgow to determine empty non reserved seats from origin

Old Yard Dog · 29 Jul 2019

gordonthemoron said:
Not enough services stop at Milton Keynes. I'd stop the Liverpool and the Trent Valley Glasgow service in addition at least

Milton Keynes passengers/commuters lead to serious overcrowding of Chester services, even in first class. I would make MKC a stop to set down only (up) and pick up only (down) like Watford Junction.

Bletchleyite · 29 Jul 2019

Old Yard Dog said:
Milton Keynes passengers/commuters lead to serious overcrowding of Chester services, even in first class. I would make MKC a stop to set down only (up) and pick up only (down) like Watford Junction.

It's the VT Only fares doing that. But most of the time I find those trains deathly quiet.

They used to be u/s but then the pound signs appeared in VTs eyes

E759 · 29 Jul 2019

theironroad said:
I vaguely recalled the seatfrog thing, but just looked at their website. At least for lner , the ticket must be an Advance purchase directly from lner, so rules out many who turned up for a walk up ticket and paid a lot more....

No longer the case; Off-Peak and Anytime tickets supported from any retailer. Download the App and use the Train Search tab, Retailer Other and Ticket Type Off-peak or Anytime. Enjoy.

Craig2601 · 31 Jul 2019

See, I actually (seemingly against the majority) like Virgin’s advertising style. Staff always seem friendly enough too. However, what I will say is that sometimes I get motion sickness on the pendolinos due to the tilt - and travelling by train rather than car/bus is what I look to avoid.

Most annoying aspect of travelling on Virgin Trains

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