Virgin Trains > Reviews

Advantages: Excellent customer service.
Disadvantages: Trains are unreliable and sometimes dirty.

Virgin Trains is a company that has received a lot of stick recently, but when travelling with Virgin is not as bad as people make out. Today I am going to take you on what I can only call a typical journey with Virgin Trains, looking at every aspect from getting your ticket to leaving the station at your destination. BUYING YOUR TICKETS The first step in your journey is to buy your ticket. This can either be done at a railway station, by phone ... Read review

Advantages: good fare offers
Disadvantages: can be frequently delayed

...all heard the jokes about Virgin trains being late and unreliable . Whilst the company admit that things can only get better I wish to put things into context and perspective. I have used Virgin and indeed all major rail companies in the past few months and my first point is I found Vigin no worse than any other train operating company. Don't kid yourself about the problems facing Virgin and indeed most rail companies in this country. The biggest ... Read review

Advantages: can be cheap, less stressful than driving
Disadvantages: can be expensive, fellow passengers can be a pain

...people have not travelled on Virgin Trains as they cover much of the length and breadth of the UK Virgin trains are half owned by Virgin (the bearded one) and Stagecoach, the bus operator which also runs South West Trains, and which expanded when the UK bus industry was sold of at knock down prices They do not own the track and do not own the trains, these are leased from people like the Bank of Scotland At this stage into their franchise, ... Read review

Advantages: execellent services, the driver always introduces himself and lets you know how the journey is going, wide choice of snacks and drinks available
Disadvantages: none

...times I have travelled on Virgin trains I always receive great service from the stewards and stewardesses. The driver also always keeps you informed of any delays and times. So dispite all the problems they have faced with all the other rail companies they have got through it. I have always found the members of staff to be most helpful, polite and very cheery out of all the train operators I have used. The best time was on christmas eve when ... Read review

Advantages: Very helpful staff and very reliable trains
Disadvantages: the only thing is the services on-board the train

...London from Manchester and used Virgin Trains there and back. Their has been a lot in the papers and on TV recently saying how unreliable and how late they always are so I felt after traveling well on both trips i ought to write a review. Although I only used the train twice I have since spoke to some people who all agree that the service is good and find it hard to make critisims. First of all was buting the tickets. It cost around £30 pounds ... Read review

Advantages: Cheap fares to be found
Disadvantages: Overcrowding

...a white train with red Virgin trim). He asked the country’s rail users to be patient, said that the company would inject vast amounts of money into improving things, but it would take time. And the rail users waited, and the next day, said, “Sir Richard mate, things haven’t improved at all. Trains are still expensive, dirty, infrequent, often late and uncomfortable.” “I may be a genius, but I can’t do miracles ... Read review

Advantages: See review
Disadvantages: See review

..."InterCity" routes are operated by Virgin Trains, so I have become something of a regular with these services. To be fair, I am sure that many of my observations would apply equally across most rail carriers - nonetheless, Virgin Trains remain the focus of my attention. Rail travel has come under intense scrutiny over recent months and years, with a marked increase in the number of rail accidents, as well as a continued decline in reliability and ... Read review

Advantages: Extensive network, comfortable
Disadvantages: Hugely overpriced, unreliable

...imperfect world of UK railways, Virgin is far from being a showpiece. Virgin run an extensive network of routes throughout Britain, but the company concentrates its efforts on the longer-distance journeys, which has led Branson (misguidedly, in my view) to try to shape the business into a sort of "ground-based airline". To this end, great emphasis has been placed on airline-style gimmicks and methodology. A good example is the replacement of First ... Read review

Advantages: Nice fast trains, crappy old ones as well, comfort.
Disadvantages: Ticket prices. Timetable, Not many seats.

...where surprisingly a brand new Virgin Pendolino pulled up at the platform. I got on it which i don't think i was supposed to but no-one will ever know :P and it was exactly as i expected to be ~ crowded, hot and fast. ..: Frequency :.. Virgin operate 334 trains a day i think it is and for that amount of trains in one country i was surprised they weren't running more often especially with most trains capable of over 100mph. From London Euston station ... Read review

Advantages: See op
Disadvantages: Bad Reputation

When you think of Virgin Trains, what springs to mind? Delays….more delays…..even more delays…..cancellations!! This used to be my first thought when I discovered that the route I was travelling was run by Virgin and would do my best to avoid the service. Needless to say, I have had bad experiences, but these were a few years ago and until recently I had never been on a Virgin Train that had been on time! Virgin run train services ... Read review

Advantages: Fairly Cheap
Disadvantages: Slow, Unreliable

...best bit. Wait for it- Virgin claims to pride itself on customer service. So how do they explain taking 6 weeks to reply to a letter of complaint. The reply was merely stating that my letter had been received and a full reply would follow shortly- I'm still waiting! I've phoned Virgin and asked them what was taking so long and they claimed they've sent me a reply. I requested a duplicate copy several times, but to no avail. I've given up now, ... Read review

Advantages: Frequent services. very comfortable, excellent trains, great provisions, excellent customer service
Disadvantages: Sometimes late.

...Actually, I love Virgin Trains! Contrary to the majority of opinions on here hehehe! It can't be said I don't go on them, I travel on them usually at least 3 hours a week. I live near Wolverhampton, my boyfriend lives in Bristol, so I regularly take journeys to and from Wolverhampton-Birmingham New Street, Wolverhampton-Bristol Temple Meads, or Birmingham New Street-Bristol Temple Meads...and back again. Yes, they are late sometimes. If ... Read review