Virgin trains have suffered a tirade of damning press reports over recent years following the brand's venture into the country's railways. As a relatively infrequent rail user, I tend to make use of their West Coast services in the main. However, many of the points made in this opinion will relate equally to the Cross Country network that is also controlled by the Branson empire.

Firstly I should say that my experiences of rail travel have, on the whole, been relatively satisfactory. There have been a couple of occasions when things have gone drastically wrong - eg: trains arriving four hours late, but happily this has been the exception rather than the rule.

Yesterday I used Virgin trains to visit London for the day. I travelled from Preston, the nearest mainline station to my rural hideaway. Virgin's current deal of half price off-peak fares (provided you book in advance, and there are sufficient tickets available) proved to be too much of a temptation. My latest hard-earned £50 cheque from Dooyoo was enough to pay for tickets for 'er indoors and myself, as well the cost of the car parking at the station. This particular journey is scheduled to take approximately three and a quarter hours, which on paper appears to be painfully slow. In truth, it is slow, as for a journey of just under two hundred miles to take as many minutes would make George and Robert Stephenson turn in their graves. They would surely have believed that this mode of transport would have progressed much further over the course of the last 170 years, but sadly this is not the case.

However, to be fair to Virgin, they are now investing for the future. A new type of tilting train is planned to reduce journey times by over a third by 2005. Although these advances appear to be well overdue, they will be welcomed by the majority of rail travellers. However, some of Virgin's other recent schemes have been given more of a mixed reception.

The firs
t is the decision to abolish smoking carriages. In principle, I do not have any objections to a smoking carriage on a train, provided it is at the very front, and non smoking passengers do not have to walk through it to reach the buffet car. However, in instances where seats are in short supply, smoking carriages make a mockery of the system. I have seen trains where they may be two or three first class carriages, another two or three standard class carriages with no seat availablity due to pre-booked seats, plus a smoking carriage. In these circumstances the choice is bleak - either stand up in the corridor, pay to upgrade to first class or suffer passive smoke and all the dangers that entails in the smoking carriage.

People now know that smoking is not acceptable for air travel, so why should rail travel be any different? Virgin have taken a brave step to stamp their authority on this issue, and it is one that will be to the benefit of the vast majority of their passengers.

Virgin's other gesture towards a better travelling experience, supposedly as a result of customer feedback, is to designate 'Quiet Coaches.' These carriages have been stickered with warnings, telling customers that the use of mobile telephones is forbidden. Hurrah! I hear you say. Well, don't get too excited just yet. In order for this sort of idea to come to fruition, it is going to require more than a few stickers on windows. I sat in a supposedly 'quiet' coach, although mobile phones were merrily playing their annoying ringtones with the usual frequency. It is sad that a company that usually prides itself on its good customer service has instigated such a badly considered scheme. The fact that the coach had been designated a quiet coach is not enough in itself. Some sort of stewarding will be required, otherwise it will make a mockery of the improvemants that Virgin are trying to make.

However, despite a number of teething troubles, I sincer
ely hope that Virgin can continue to make improvements to their services. Then perhaps rail travel in the future may one day be comparable with that of our European cousins.

{An original Dooyoo opinion
© Blackjane 2001)