Are we there...yet? (Virgin Trains)

Member Name: Critchyboy

Product:	Virgin Trains
Date:	28/09/01 (52 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: New trains coming on line

Disadvantages: Habit of being a tad late.

Virgin trains. We've all heard the jokes, all heard the excuses, all complained at one time or another. I have a wide experience of Virgin Trains, travelling from Chesterfield to Plymouth on the dreaded Cross-Country route.

My first experience of this was a nightmare. First train cancelled. Travel to Derby - change - travel to Birmingham - change. The train from Birmingham was an hour and a half late. It stopped outside Bristol as it hit something on the track - the driver got out to check all was OK and we moved on, only to grind to a halt outside Tiverton Parkway where we remained for at least an hour. The Train Manager come on the tannoy and announced that the service was a complete failure - much to the agreement of myself and my fellow passengers. We finally arrived in Plymouth at 4.00am - six hours late and after 11 hours on trains or platforms. The journey back was a little bit more fun - only an hour late, but we did get free coffee. To give Virgin their dues, they recognise their service is, how to put it, pants. We were offered a full refund and a taxi back to our home. The least they could do for a horrendous weekend.

My latest journey by Virgin has been much different to this. My train from Chesterfield was on time and got us to Plymouth 10 minutes early. My connecting train, another Virgin service was late - held up by a late-running First Great Western service. The return service could have been a disaster. The terminating train to form the one I needed was late from Leeds, giving only 15 minutes to turn it round. Give the staff their dues - it was done in 10 and left on time arriving into Chesterfield bang on time. Polite, helpful and courteous staff on both journeys.

When Virgin get it wrong - boy, do they gey it wrong. When they get it right, isn't it fair to give them credit. I had a very nice letter from Customer Relations - a little encouragement goes a long way.

They are investing millions in new train
s and new upgrades and things take time. Yes, it should have been done years ago. Yes, it's a pain when you're let down. But once in a while they do get it right...

Summary: