The train that thinks it's a plane! (Virgin Trains)

Member Name: gemzeh

Product:	Virgin Trains
Date:	19/01/09 (450 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Seat booking, nice seats, professional staff, buffet car

Disadvantages: Buffet car sometimes smells like a toilet (grim), computer glitches ruin seat booking

Virgin trains run quite a few services up and down the country, with services mainly running from London, Birmingham and Manchester. I have used Virgin trains on many occasions, and travelled with them today to make a business journey from London Euston to Coventry. Usually when I fly with Virgin airlines, I consider them to offer a fairly high standard of customer services, but I doubted that they could offer a decent train service as I've found this to be something of a rarity in this country!

Are Virgin trains reliable?

Each time I've travelled with this company, the train has arrived on time, or arrived at the station ahead of schedule. Obviously many factors contribute to whether a train arrives on time or not, and I may have just been lucky when travelling with Virgin Trains, but I've not been on a late train yet (touch wood).

Having said that, although I've never gotten on a train that arrived late, I have been on a train that was severely delayed throughout the course of the journey. On this occasion, I was lucky enough to get a seat (which is often a nightmare on rush hour trains back to Euston). However, other customers weren't so lucky, and the train was really jammed full of people, which meant that it got really uncomfortable. Virgin Trains also have a bad habit of over heating each train, which is unpleasant on even the most spacious train, but in rush hour when there isn't room to swing a cat, it gets really awful, and a few people nearly passed out on the day of the delayed journey just because it was so hot. During this time, however, the train driver kept us informed of the reasons for our delay with announcements over the radio on board. I found this helpful, as I often find that I'm not always kept up to date on train issues when I'm doing my usual commute with another rail company.

Overall I would say that, apart from the horrible delayed journey, I've had no real problems with reliability using this rail service.

Are the on board facilities any good?

I have been really impressed with the services on board Virgin Trains. Most other companies I've used for rail travel either don't provide any refreshments at all, or else sometimes they might have a trolley service. Virgin Trains, however, have a buffet car on each train, which is completely devoid of seats, and is just a carriage that serves as a dedicated shop. The buffet car offers a good range of products, including pastries and breakfast rolls in the morning, and sandwiches throughout the day. They usually have some vegetarian and healthy options available, so if you end up on a train and need to get something to eat, you should be able to find something suitable in the buffet car. However, as it's on board a train, the customer is obviously captive and thus the prices are quite high, so if you can bring your own food with you, this is probably a much cheaper option.

The only downside to the buffet car is something I've noticed on two separate trips with Virgin Trains, and that is the smell. Twice when I went into the buffet car, the smell from nearby toilets had somehow completely permeated the carriage, and the smell was really disgusting and put me off buying anything as it made me feel sick! I'm not sure why this happened, but the memory of it has made me always get refreshments before I get on board the train!

The seats on the train are usually brightly coloured and look really smart and tidy. The chairs themselves are quite comfortable, with high backs. They aren't going to be like your living room sofa or anything, but they are comfortable enough to sit down for several hours. The headrests are really nice and comfortable, and although I wouldn't be able to comfortably sleep against one (they have a tendency to make you sit bolt upright), they are fit for purposes.

In the back of most seats on the train are free magazines, much like the sort you would find on a flight. I think the magazines are a nice touch, and mine was quite interesting and a good way to pass the journey. They also make me feel as if I'm going on a flight somewhere exotic as they do remind me of flying on a plane (when in reality I'm just going to Coventry)!

There is sufficient legroom on the trains, with the large four seater tables having the most ample space. The majority of chairs on the trains have fold up tables in front of them, which are useful if you want to do some work on the train. If you need to use your laptop on the train, however, I would advise that you sit at a table seat, as the smaller fold down tables wont provide enough room or stability for your computer.

Is it easy to get a seat?

Virgin Trains offer the facility of booking seats in advance of your journey, which you can do at the station up to the day before you travel. This facility is really useful if you're travelling during rush hour, as this way you can guarantee yourself a seat for the journey. The only problems with this is that, if you don't book, you're obviously not guaranteed a seat, which is pretty depressing as we pay so much for our rail travel in the UK! Also, on several occasions when I've travelled, there has been some sort of on board computer glitch, which has meant that all seat bookings were wiped from the computer and effectively deleted. This has caused complete chaos, with people scrambling for seats in a mad rush!

Are the staff helpful?

Virgin Trains staff are always immaculately turned out, and have the whole 'flight attendant' look down to a tee. They have smart uniforms, and usually gleaming smiles, and are generally extra helpful. I encountered one staff member who was completely unhelpful and rude to me, and she was at the ticket counter at Euston station. As all the other staff have been incredibly helpful in the past, I'm willing to put this encounter down as a one off.

Are Virgin Trains good value for money?

All rail travel in this country is, in my opinion, ridiculously expensive. Virgin Trains offer a variety of ticket types with varying prices (please see http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/), but I've found that per distance covered, Virgin Trains do work out pretty much the same cost as other train companies. The only difference is that Virgin trains are nicer and more homely (apart from that horrific toilet smell on the odd occasion), and the staff are more professional.

Summary: One of the best train operators in the UK