Virgin Bliss (Virgin Trains)

Member Name: bendoyle1983

Product:	Virgin Trains
Date:	10/06/06 (504 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap tickets booked in advance, food, service frequency, nice new trains

Disadvantages: XC sometimes too crowded.

Virgin Trains. It's like Marmite, either you love it or hate it. I have used Virgin many times in the past few months to travel up from London to Manchester. I always book well in advance, hence I get cheaper tickets. As a YP railcard holder, I can get fares for £8.25 each way. I cannot complain at this at all. I have even splashed out on First Class on one or two occasions, and it has cost me under £40. Obviously this is with a 33% YP discount, but it's still cheap for First Class Travel!

The new service frequency means that there are more ceap seats available, and I have never had a problem with finding a seat on the train. The seats are spacious and comfy, and, in some respects, better than some other TOC's First Class carriages! The at-seat entertainment system is fantastic, with many choices to keep you entertained on your journey.

The new trains are tilting and travelling at up to 125 mph. This is short of the 140 mph promised, but Virgin are trying to get sections of the line up to 135mph to shave off even more time off the journeys. I have to take my hat off to the investment by Virgin in their line, I think it's amazing, and would never have happened under BR. Remember the APT? We should have had this level of service 20 years ago, but succesive government's underinvestment in the line meant we had to wait until now. I think Virgin have done well in the face of much criticism, and a less headstrong company may have still had us travelling in those trains from the 70's.

The food is better than previously, and the onboard shop, although expensive, is comparable in price to other mainline operators, such as GNER/Midland Mainline.

I have travelled XC in the past (2002), and found the service to be very overcrowded. I think this has been addressed now with extra carriages, and timetable rethink.

Virgin are going to increase the frequency to Manchester once again, with a train every 20 minutes. This is truly amazing. Virgin trains are setting the standard for other operators to follow.

The future's bright, the future's... red!

Summary: Fast, Cheap and Frequent! Choose Virgin!