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Home > Travel > Holiday Essentials > Train > Virgin Pendolino
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8 Reviews

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Even sitting in the direction of travel, by a window, I felt horribly train sick. Why? Because of the pendular ride. You see the horizon rise up and down when the train goes round a corner but your... more

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for Virgin Pendolino

Rating Summary based on 8 reviews

  • 5 Stars
    		2
  • 4 Stars
    		1
  • 3 Stars
    		1
  • 2 Stars
    		1
  • 1 Star
    		3

Detailed rating

  • Frequency of trains
  • On-board facilities
  • Speed of trains
  • Ticketing System
  • Value for Money
  		• 3.9
  		• 2.8
  		• 4.4
  		• 3.1
  		• 2.8
  • 121 of 121 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of marymoose99

    Level 8 marymoose99

    Member since 15/11/2006

    Reviews written: 171

    4 Stars Cattle Class or First Class - you decide! Review with images 01/11/2008
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Pretty fast, reasonable service, wine has high alcohol content

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Not always reliable, cattle class is crowded, tickets are expensive

    I seem to spend a great deal of time on trains, mainly due to the fact that I don't 'do' driving. But in a funny sort of way I actually quite enjoy it. I've already reviewed my experiences on Northern Rail which I use for my daily commute. Today's Journey Today (5th September 2008) however I am travelling on the 16:34 Virgin Pendolino from Carlisle to London Euston (which was the 15:10 from Glasgow). This afternoon we'll be stopping at Penrith, Oxenholme, Lancaster, Preston, Wigan North Western, Warrington Bank Quay, Crewe, Rugby, Milton Keynes and London Euston. I'm going down to Essex as my ... more
  • 59 of 59 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of gardenguru1

    gardenguru1

    5 Stars Vergin on the magnificent 21/02/2005
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Fast, smooth, clean and comfortable

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Ticket prices can be expensive so buy early and travel off peak

    My son is studying King Lear for his AS level course work and we decided to go to London to see Colin Redgrave in the Shakespeare Company production at the Albery Theatre. To obtain the cheapest seats I rang Virgin Train Services over 2 weeks before our trip and managed to get 14 day value return tickets for £28 from Shrewsbury to Euston. It is worth noting that it is sometimes cheaper to buy 2 single tickets than a return so it’s important to look at all the options. The tickets arrived very quickly and gave all the timings for the trip including the connection times at Birmingham New Street ... more
  • 37 of 37 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of voyagerdude220

    Level 3 voyagerdude220

    Member since 08/08/2005

    Reviews written: 8

    5 Stars Pacey Pendos via Preston, for Plebs& Posh people 11/08/2006
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Huge amounts of cheap buy-in-advance Virgin Value tickets, On-board entertainment system with 4 pre-recorded channels, and 10 live stations including radio1, 2 etc.. Modern electronic displays. First Class for me.

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Luggage space apparantly seems to be lacking in standard class. The Birmingham to London route seems to be bad for tilt.

    I first apologise for the length of this review, and hope you don't find it to long. THE TYPE OF TRAIN I'M REVIEWING 9/10 The Virgin Pendolinos are Italian electric trains, which are formed of nine coaches. Five of these are cattle class (i mean standard class), and four of them are First Class. First Class is almost always at the London end, with Standard Class at the country end. North End ................. South End. ...... Coach... A B C D F G H J K The name "Pendolino" is Italian, and is named after electric tilting trains which operated in many other places around the world, apart from ... more
  • 14 of 14 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of seanjkeating

    seanjkeating

    3 Stars What a shame 07/06/2006
    User doesn't recommend the product

    Advantages Advantages Fast, frequent, lots of seats

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Poor travelling environment, slow at weekends

    INTRO Virgin Pendolinos have been running out of London Euston for three years now, providing intercity services up to Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Manchester, Preston and Glasgow at frequent intervals. They are all formed of a nine-car formation, not to confuse them with the similar Voyagers which are diesel and 4/5 car. HISTORY Virgin Trains took over the West Coast Mainline in 1997 and promised new 'state of the art' trains and higher speeds. At this time, Virgins West Coast route had two types of trains running. They were running class 87's and mk2 coaches which although comfortable provided ... more
  • 3 of 3 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of DCWS

    DCWS

    2 Stars Shake, rattle and tilt 01/06/2007
    User doesn't recommend the product

    Advantages Advantages Faster than before

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Everything else

    In common with other reviewers, I find the Pendolino trains a real disappointment - they are cramped, the ride is truly terrible, the interior trim rattles and shakes for the whole journey, and the windows are way too small. I also hate the fact that many seats have no outside view - ridiculous! Everyone on a plane gets one. Of these, the most significant disadvantage is the lack of headroom, which probably results from the need to tilt. It's more like a small plane than a train. Everyone therefore sits extremely close to each other. I would swap one of these tacky trains for a proper loco and ... more

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