Get some experience with Virigin Trains (Virgin Trains)

Member Name: djwhite1982

Product:	Virgin Trains
Date:	10/08/09 (90 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Comfortable, cheap if bought in advance

Disadvantages: Limited luggage room

I'm a big fan of Virgin as a company. I've found that nearly always they somehow manage to offer a higher level of quality or service, without any massive difference on price, and again Virgin Trains are no exception.

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TICKETS

As with all the train companies the booking and purchasing of tickets is standardised and so there is obviously no difference between one company to the next.

The prices of the tickets, relatively speaking, I have found pretty reasonable. Generally I do think that compared to many of our European neighbours train travel is exceptionally expensive, however I would say that Virgin trains always seem to have a good amount of cheaper tickets available provided you have been organised enough to book them in advance. I just got back fro ma trip to Liverpool over the weekend which cost £25, which is excellent value. As ever, the times you want to leave have to be compromised slightly if you want to make the biggest savings. The website for booking the tickets was very well laid out and easy to use. I'm sure that people who weren't particularly computer savvy could easily navigate round the website and get what they wanted. However failing that, as you would expect they can be contacted by phone to book tickets.

Virgin trains operate quite a few services out of London Euston and therefore I believe they are responsible for a lot of the ticketing facilities at the station. As I had pre- purchased my tickets for collection, I arrived about 25 minutes before the train journey, as from past experiences there are often bug lines for picking up tickets. I arrived just after rush hour at about 9.30am. I was impressed with the number of tickets machines and staff that were at London Euston. I picked up my ticket within minutes.

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TIME

The journey length for me was one of the most impressive points. Virgin trains have really minimised the amount of stops along the London to Liverpool route, and the journey from London Euston to Liverpool Lime street, took an impressive 2 hours and 15 minutes, with everything running perfectly on time.

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TRAIN AMENITIES

As for the facilities on the train, I have found urgent to offer some of the best train in the UK. The seats are spacious and comfortable. Unfortunately to make was for the slightly larger seats, the amount of space for storing luggage is limited. If you are not somebody who travels light I would recommend getting onto the train as early as possible as the luggage racks fill up pretty quickly and then your left struggling to find somewhere to stick your suitcase.

Most Virgin trains have on board a food train which offers a decent range of foods (mainly sandwiches, pastries, snacks) and a few alcoholic beverages, and hot and cold drinks. If you're in a rush and haven't had chance to get anything before boarding the train then this is pretty convenient, however the prices are high, so generally I would recommend picking up something beforehand.

The trains are kitted out with a T Mobile Wifi connection which I found to be excellent throughout the journey and was a major plus of using Virgin trains. I used the Wifi to steam the BBC I player for a few parts of the journey and found it pretty reliable with only a few minor interruptions.

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All in all I was pretty impressed with my trip on Virgin trains, and if you've got time to book in advance then your journey will definitely be value for money. As a comparison I got a coach to Manchester a few weeks ago, which although was £10 cheaper, the journey took 4 hours longer and was incredibly uncomfortable. Book early and get a Virgin train!

Summary: Good service and value for money if booked in advance, maybe not if buying your ticket on the day.