I Passed Out- But I Made It Home !! (Virgin Trains)

Member Name: sdean

Product:	Virgin Trains
Date:	23/03/09 (219 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap tickets (not from their website) leg room etc

Disadvantages: can be oversubscribed !

I won't pretend to be a fan of conglomerates; they can be a pain as they try and take over the world. At the weekend myself and my best friend travelled to Blackpool to visit some friends (see 'Funny Girls' review). We went via The Trainline (which is now run by Virgin) and National Express Trains website to get the cheapest tickets- this is because the Virgin site is very expensive to get them from (why I don't know!)

So in the interest of saving money this was our journey Thursday - London - Manchester (we then went to Blackpool on a different providers train from Manchester). What a lovely journey. We travelled from Euston where a lovely bunch of guys checked our tickets before boarding. We found our reserved seats easily, reservations noted by the LCD screen above the seats, not like the old fashioned tickets in the back of the seats. The carriage was a good size with a good amount of luggage room, even though it could have done with more, but there was no where else for bags. The leg room was a nice size, I didn't feel cramped at all. The tray tables, as with all the fixtures fittings and even toilets were clean and functional. I sat back to enjoy the 2 hour journey. There were small rubbish bins between the seats, but rubbish was collected twice throughout the journey, which kept the train lovely and clean.

What a smooth ride. My friends case (I know only one night!!) was balanced precariously on the luggage rack, I thought we may have to rescue it at one point, but it was fine the whole journey. We set off on time and arrived a couple of minutes early. Wonderful trip all round.

The return journey on Friday morning was to say the least, interesting. We left from Preston North station (not the starting stop and it was 20 minutes late) we got on the train and it was packed. There was luggage in the aisles on the tables under people's seats, it was mayhem. There was a Virgin representative on the train who was no help directing people and getting people to move, which would have helped. My friend and I weren't sitting together, but we did have to throw people out of our seats. It was unfortunate, but I was not happy to stand for 3 hours. The train seemed horrifically over subscribed all the way down, people were moaning there was nowhere to sit and that the luggage was all in the way.

However, when you get moaning and people being grumpy, you also witness human kindness. Unfortunately I have had a couple of incidences where I have passed out in the last few months, I have avoided going to the docs as I can't be bothered (and also a little scared). But I was tucked up by the window catching up on some z's from the previous night and I awoke feeling really ill. I legged it - as best I could down to the toilets, unfortunately which there were quite a few people waiting, I held onto the luggage rack convincing myself not to be ill on the train, the thought of 2 more hours with the smell of sawdust and vomit and the embarrassment made me seriously have a word with myself.

I blacked out and awoke on the floor. I think the chap I must have clipped as I went past thought I fell over as I came to and stood up again. Unfortunately I wasn't over it. As I managed to get up again it all went black and I passed out longer. My friend was unwittingly sitting in her seat and only looked up as people got up out of their seats as there was a bump - the bump was not luggage Ladies and Gents, it was my head. The chap and the lady next to him (who didn't know each other made me sit down while I composed myself. The lady put her arm around me, she later told me she was a retired nurse, and they made sure I was ok. My friend dashed over and took me back to my seat, where (thankfully) the nausea had passed I was ok, except for a little bit shaken, but was grateful that even there was no Virgin personnel around (if they had been able to get through the millions of people) that even though the train was hot and uncomfortable people still helped and made sure I was ok.

Wherever you are dear people, thank you and I hope someone does that same for you one day!

-The Verdict-

Use other websites to get tickets, cheaper and more efficient. Make sure you get a seat, which means - reserve your tickets, it can be hell stood up the whole time! Generally apart from being 20 minutes late leaving, we still arrived in good time. The return train was extremely over subscribed, there was people everywhere, which was uncomfortable for everyone. The air conditioning needed to be adjusted to the amount of warm bodies on the train and the sun coming through the windows. Otherwise, it was comfortable, clean on both legs (considering the return journey had come a long way already). Even though with most operators you have no choice, but I would travel with Virgin again, if only for the standard of their customers !!

Summary: Well i'm still alive !!