[Anonymous]

[TonyMP45]

Virgin Trains operate an hourly weekday direct services between London Euston and Liverpool. The service is normally non-stop to Stafford, with one further stop at Runcorn before completing the 2 hour 8 minute journey.

The train comprises of up to 7 Standard-Class coaches and 4 First Class coaches (G-K). I purchased an Advance 1st Class ticket departing on the 14.07 service on a Friday afternoon. As I am a commuter into London Paddington, I normally use First Great Western to book my entire train journey, irrespective as to whether they are on FGW or not as there are no booking fees and I can collect the tickets via my local station. However, I will probably not do this in future as I when I book the tickets, the system always seems to allocate me in Coach J as part of a pair. The only request that you can put into the booking system is a request for an aisle seat. As I needed to work on the train on my journey, I would need access to the power socket but there is only one per 2 seats. I contacted Virgin Customer Services and they said that the only way to change a pre-booked seat is if I had booked it through Virgin Trains. However, they said I would be free to move if there were any other available seats.

On the day, I arrived at London Euston at around 1pm and made my way up to the Virgin Lounge upstairs to the right at you enter the station complex. As probably to be expected, the Lounge was very busy. Coffee, tea, orange juice and water are available on tap, whilst a fridge had mini cans of cola and lemonade. A basket containing packets of biscuits and muffins was the only food on offer. There is pay bar available to purchase alcoholic drinks.

No announcements are made in the Lounge, so at around 13.45 I left the Lounge and made my way down to the station concourse to await the announcement of the train’s departure. Shortly afterwards, Platform 4 was called and I made my way down to have my ticket checked before boarding Coach J. I had been allocated Seat 6, and as expected Seat 7 was also showing as reserved. However, the two seats immediately in front were showing as available. I put my bags down here and went into Coach K and all seats were showing as reserved. I therefore returned to Seats 3 & 4. These seats accompany the disabled space but I thought I would take my chance as they were the only other available seats in the carriage. The person sitting in Seat 7 duly arrived, though he promptly put his bags on Seat 7 and sat in Seat 6 (my seat) which I thought was a bit presumptuous as we were still 10 minutes before the scheduled departure time!

We departed on time and thankfully no one boarded in a wheelchair! I could therefore plug in my laptop and spread out my work. Complimentary Wi-Fi is available for First Class passengers and this worked well throughout the journey.

The Train Manager appeared almost immediately to check tickets and made no comment that I was not sitting in my designated seat.

Two crew members came through the carriage shortly afterwards serving tea and coffee. The trolley then arrived offering either an egg sandwich or a BBQ chicken wrap, along with a choice of crisps, fruit, chocolate and muffins. I opted for the Wrap and a bag of crisps. Nearly twenty minutes went by before the drinks trolley then arrived. I opted for a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and a bottle of water. Both were replenished when the trolley was on its return journey back to the kitchen in coach K.

The journey was uneventful with on-time stops at both Stafford and Runcorn before our arrival at Liverpool Lime Street on schedule. It was a good journey with the only improvement I would like to see would be a better approach to seat allocation so that those who book early can obtain a single seat.

I returned from Liverpool Lime Street to London Euston the following Sunday on the 10.38 service. Virgin Trains offer less trains on a Sunday with longer journey times than that available on a weekday. I entered the Lounge on Platform 7 which is accessed by showing your First Class ticket at a camera once a buzzer has been pressed. The Lounge has the same offerings as at the London Lounge in terms of the complimentary snacks but there is no option to purchase alcohol. Again, no announcements are made from the Lounge, but as the train departs from right outside the Lounge I made my way out when the train arrived from the sidings. The first service is not due to arrive until 11.07 so the service I was on, plus the two earlier services were all the first journeys for these trains today.

I made my way to the front of the train to Coach J as I had been allocated exactly the same seat as on my inbound journey. Along with many people, we were stood outside for about 10 minutes before the doors were opened. Unlike last time, the seats in front of my allocated seat were reserved so I went into Coach K and found a pair of seats showing as available.

The train departed on schedule, but within about 5 minutes we came to a complete stop as apparently the train in front had broken down. The Train Manager was very clear about the problem at this point that we were stuck here for the time being as there was no way we could get round the problem train. She issued two further announcements that nothing could be done. Whilst I was sat in First Class, I was though craving a cup of coffee but there did not appear to be any activity the kitchen immediately behind me. During the whole journey I did not see the Train Manager at all and my ticket was not checked at all. I therefore decided to direct my queries to the Virgin Twitter account (@VirginTrains) and to ask them if there was any First Class service on the train. They were very responsive to my queries and to cut a long story short, they promised to call the Train Manager to find out what was happening. Apparently, they only normally commence the First Class service after the train has departed Runcorn. I can understand this in normal circumstances but as we had been on the train for 40 minutes, I don’t think it was too much to ask.

Then, this man appeared and went into the kitchen behind me and within about 10 minutes, I had a coffee. He also gave me a breakfast snack box that comprised of a sweet roll and jam, a biscuit and some nuts. I am still not sure what to make of this, but I passed on the sweet roll! The crew member did provide more coffee about an hour later.

Shortly afterwards the train started to move and from this point on we never heard from the Train Manager again. All of the announcements when we stopped at Runcorn, Crewe, Nuneaton, Watford Junction and into London Euston were automated. There was no apology for the passengers boarding at these stations and more importantly giving an estimated time of arrival. Fortunately, I had my Twitter friend at Virgin who did a great job keeping me updated.

We did finally arrive at London Euston at around 14.20, which was 65 minutes late and made the entire journey over three and a half hours long.

I subsequently issued a compensation claim to Virgin as I had been delayed more than 30 minutes and I have since received a Rail Voucher to the value of £48.

In summary, the Sunday service was not up to the usual Virgin standard, and although I know that this was not Virgin’s fault, the Train Manager did absolutely nothing to improve the situation.

[slotski]

I am a regular on Virgin trains both standard class and first, I think the service is fantastic compared compared to the other intercity services I used: First Great Western and Cross Country. Unfortunately I have encountered many delays with Virgin (not always their fault) and they never quibble to pay up for compensation. On one occassion my train was delayed by a +2 hours and I did not arrive into London until 2am. Virgin Trains had arranged taxis for all passengers to be taken home – there was a fleet of 50+ Addison Lee waiting or us. I live in Zone 5 Surrey, the fare must have been £80, but it was all paid for by Virgin.

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