Virgin Trains East Coast launch day

[trainfanatic]

First day is Sunday 01 March.

Oh dear.....right in the middle of Engineering works between Retford/Peterborough necessitating diversions all day Saturday 28/2 and thr morning of March 1st. Enjoy!

 

[Joshrowlands]

Oh dear.....right in the middle of Engineering works between Retford/Peterborough necessitating diversions all day Saturday 28/2 and thr morning of March 1st. Enjoy!

That's gonna be iconic, the first day of the Virgin East Coast franchise and all trains are gonna be delayed, maybe they'll have the launch event a few days later?

 

[Essexman]

Well, fobbing the customer off with RTVs is quicker than investigating customers' complaints in detail...

Virgin once sent me a £10 voucher and letter of apology in reply to my letter praising their service!

 

[Joshrowlands]

Virgin once sent me a £10 voucher and letter of apology in reply to my letter praising their service!

That's the definition of bad customer service if there ever was one

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

I wonder if they will do some special promo fares for a while. I recently took advantage of EC deal from £5.00 to visit Leeds and I would quite like to visit Newcastle upon Tyne. (I even have a Black & White Football Jersey to take with me.)

 

[59CosG95]

Wonder if the existing Virgin Trains will have to rebrand as "Virgin West Coast"?

 

[CC 72100]

Wonder if the existing Virgin Trains will have to rebrand as "Virgin West Coast"?

I can't see it - when Virgin had both the CrossCountry and West Coast franchises (aka. the bad old days when they hadn't transformed everything they touched and ran the stock completely into the ground!) it was only at the start that certain HSTs had an 'XC' logo below the Virgin one. Although it's going back a fair few years, I can't remember announcements at places like New Street making a distinction between 'Virgin West Coast' and 'Virgin CrossCountry',

When the new trains arrived, the voyagers and pendolinos received the same branding, even though the latter would only ever work on West Coast workings.

 

[43074]

That's gonna be iconic, the first day of the Virgin East Coast franchise and all trains are gonna be delayed, maybe they'll have the launch event a few days later?

Not really, considering it's been planned months in advance - as long as everything runs to plan and there isn't an embarrasing overrun or anything I can't see an issue.

The launch events are generally on the first Monday after the first day of operation (i.e. the 2nd March for VTEC) and considering Virgin are involved I would expect something.

 

[Oxfordblues]

Everyone will Arrive Awesome :roll:

If it's anything like the WCML they'll "Arrive Awfully Late"!

 

[jon0844]

As far as I'm aware the first (rail) service (I can see a 0655 bus from Doncaster) is the 0755 Newcastle-Kings Cross which I happen to be booked on. I must admit that i'm curious to see what they do.

Well I'm sure SRB will be on one of the first trains, so either yours or whatever is first out of London. Along with lots of press that will report all the things that will be totally different, the new trains he's currently building etc.

 

[Darandio]

the new trains he's currently building etc.

With his bare hands may I add, along with first class antimacassars made with the finest parrot feathers, exclusively from Necker Island.

 

[Mojo]

Wonder if the existing Virgin Trains will have to rebrand as "Virgin West Coast"?

I can't see it

I travelled from Manchester to London last week and my ticket, which previously would have printed as "VIRGIN TRNS ONLY," printed as "VTWC TRAINS ONLY" in the Route field.

 

[jon0844]

Joe Public stand a good chance of understanding VTWC don't they!

 

[maniacmartin]

I would have called it 'VIRGIN WEST ONLY' myself.

 

[Joshrowlands]

Not really, considering it's been planned months in advance - as long as everything runs to plan and there isn't an embarrasing overrun or anything I can't see an issue.

The launch events are generally on the first Monday after the first day of operation (i.e. the 2nd March for VTEC) and considering Virgin are involved I would expect something.

I know how much they like they're PR so I hope so but I hope they haven't just discarded my email and fobbed me off with a rtv

 

[JaJaWa]

I travelled from Manchester to London last week and my ticket, which previously would have printed as "VIRGIN TRNS ONLY," printed as "VTWC TRAINS ONLY" in the Route field.

Their most recent press releases and job offers have said "Virgin Trains West Coast" too.

 

[Stats]

Their most recent press releases and job offers have said "Virgin Trains West Coast" too.

Web site coming soon: http://www.virgintrainswestcoast.co.uk/

 

[Geezertronic]

Web site coming soon: http://www.virgintrainswestcoast.co.uk/

I don't know if it will be used any time soon as that domain name is owned by Stagecoach and the www.virgintrains.co.uk domain name is owned by Virgin Enterprises. It could be a placeholder for a future WCML bid if the VTEC ownership gets repeated in a WCML bid oppertunity

 

[IanXC]

And in any case, I know with telecoms and insurance any ombudsman complaint - legitimate or frivolous- results in a (3 figure) charge to the company. Do passenger focus, etc, operate on a similar basis?

Passenger Focus don't operate on that basis. Its one of the reasons they don't provide an effective ombudsman service.

 

[extendedpaul]

I know how much they like they're PR so I hope so but I hope they haven't just discarded my email and fobbed me off with a rtv

Had you considered that Virgin Trains and other TOCS may well be aware of this thread ? TOCs do view these forums.

You would not want you to jeopardise your chance of employment within the rail industry or even of participation in a launch event through posting in a negative way under your apparent real name and location.

 

[DownSouth]

Web site coming soon: http://www.virgintrainswestcoast.co.uk/

I don't know if it will be used any time soon as that domain name is owned by Stagecoach and the www.virgintrains.co.uk domain name is owned by Virgin Enterprises. It could be a placeholder for a future WCML bid if the VTEC ownership gets repeated in a WCML bid oppertunity

You're overthinking it. Domain names are ridiculously easy to transfer if needed, especially when the Virgin Group and Stagecoach are partners in the Virgin Rail Group (aka VTWC) and Inter City Railways (aka VTEC) companies.

What could be an issue is if the trademark categories in Britain are sufficiently broad that Honda has no choice but to protect their trademark by suing if Inter City Railways ever start using the VTEC acronym instead of spelling it out.

 

[Mainliner]

One of the first tweets on the new Virgin Twitter account was:

"...there will be some events in March, we'll post more details here shortly."

https://twitter.com/askVirginEC/status/564733371822391297

 

[philjo]

Good to see that one of the twitter replies confirms that they are retaining the seat selector when booking online.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Good to see that one of the twitter replies confirms that they are retaining the seat selector when booking online.

Hopefully they will introduce such a thing for West Coast as well.

Neil

 

[6Gman]

Seriously, give either Virgin EC or Virgin Group PR a call. If you're extremely lucky, and get their attention in the right way, you could end up with a VIP invite or something. Get even more lucky, and you could maybe get to meet SRB. Young lad, first time in London, it's got some good PR elements to it… Even if you don't pull something like that off, I'm sure they will be delighted to let you know when they plan to do something, and/or maybe send you a goody bag or something.

Edit: A tip for when talking to them and asking if SRB will be there, the correct etiquette is to refer to him as "Sir Richard", I believe.

But that "50 reasons to sign the Virgin petition" piece said that we are all VIPs!

 

[Suraggu]

I have been informed it will be a lower key launch event than with previous Virgin launches, Business as usual' is the aim.

 

[Joshrowlands]

They'll probably send you a £20 RTV

They actually did lol! I got the letter today apologising for my 'bad experience' and how it's not acceptable etc along with a £20 RTV. They clearly didn't read a single word of my email, I'm a bit annoyed if I'm completely honest but oh well it's pretty much paying for a return to manchester can't compain.

I tweeted Virgin East Coast and they said they do have some events planned for the launch but it's under wraps at the moment.

 

[Suraggu]

Well I have seen the mock up for the new livery and well... It is going to put the Virgin fan boys in a bit of a tis. It's striking to say the least.

But your have to wait till 02/03/15 to find out.

 

[CC 72100]

They actually did lol! I got the letter today apologising for my 'bad experience' and how it's not acceptable etc along with a £20 RTV. They clearly didn't read a single word of my email, I'm a bit annoyed if I'm completely honest but oh well it's pretty much paying for a return to manchester can't compain.

Yes you got £20 (enjoy! ) but this just proves how pathetic their customer services department is.

Of course, if you had made an actual complaint, you could now be safe in the knowledge that they don't give a #&%$ about how to improve the service, don't want to investigate issues, and would rather fob people off than tackle whatever 'problem' you originally complained about. End result is that the reason for your complaint will happily reoccur and reoccur.

I'm sure some of you reading this will think "he's absolutely mad, who wouldn't want free money no questions asked?" but sometimes you complain because you want to supply some feedback, an issue or something that can be improved, and any financial compensation is a bonus after you've been listened to. This current way cuts out the whole 'listening to our customers, taking what they say on-board and acting upon it' bit. Which from my experiences in customer service role (not on the railway, I accept) is what good customer service is all about.

 

[Aictos]

Well I have seen the mock up for the new livery and well... It is going to put the Virgin fan boys in a bit of a tis. It's striking to say the least.

But your have to wait till 02/03/15 to find out.

One thing I'm wondering is I know 91103 is at Bounds Green being done up in the new livery as VT Creative Director has leaked teasing photos on Twitter however is it likely to just be the Class 91 done up OR will they do a full MK4 set plus DVT as well?