Virgin Pendolino

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 a noisy ambience and rough ride at high speed. They also ran class 90's and slightly newer Mk3 stock which came into service in the 80's. These were recently refurbished and provided comfortable acommodation and a quiet and smooth ride. It was understandable for virgin to want new trains, but surely the 'not that old' mk3s could been kept for extra services seeing as overcrowding is a major issue on this railway? Not so, In 2003 Virgins first Pendolino ran on the West Coast Mainline to Wolverhampton. Although designed for 140mph running, they were limited to 110mph until 2004 when speeds were finally raised to a permanent 125mph all the way to Glasgow.

ON BOARD

Pendolinos all feature on board entertainment systems allowing you to listen to music and comedy on the move, sadly this is all so often switched off. In my experience riding these trains is rather unpleasant and this is down to the following issues that in my opinion the older trains didn't suffer from:

1) Cramped saloons - Pendolinos contain a high number of seats per coach, fine for commuting but for a long-distance train journey this can be rather irritating considering the lack of legroom. It is almost impossible to carry a suitcase down the aisle of the coaches as the train is so cramped. This issue also applies for the virgin voyagers.

2) Uncomfortable seats - Again similar to the virgin voyagers the pendolinos contain hard, upright seats that can make you feel uncomfortable after a long journey. The older trains had seats which were less upright so you could relax and lay back a bit. Another point about seats on pendolinos is that some of them are next to window pillars meaning you have no view outside!

3) Smelly toilets - Alot of passengers have complained about this and i'm suprised that nothing has yet been done three years on. Everytime you walk past a toilet you'll notice the smell of something like a stink bomb. Not nice at all.

4) Luggage space - As mentioned before, it is hard to take luggage through the train, and even harder to store it without obstructing a part of the train. Very poor.

5) Shop - Why? Just why do we need a 'shop' on a train? Who in their right mind is going to buy headphones, books and CD's at almost twice the price as they could've before they boarded the train? The shop is also cramped and when there is a queue it is difficult to get on and off the train. Very badly designed!

6) The actual ride - This could just be me, but i get a feeling similar to sea or air sickness sometimes when i'm on these trains. It could be the tilting, or even the fact that the windows are so small it really feels like you are on an airline! Mind you i have been on a tilting voyager before and i felt fine.

7) First Class - I don't really enjoy travelling first class on pendolinos and i don't see it as a massive improvement on the standard class. The seats are slightly wider granted, but they use blinds on the windows (yes, blinds in first class!) and the seats themselves are still no wider than some standard class seats on older trains. Considering virgin have the most expensive first class fares in the UK, it really isn't a good offer. I even once got told off for drinking more than one cup of 'complimentary' tea!

OVERALL:

I think Pendolinos could've been so much better. You only need to look at the Italian version to see how comfortable they could've been. Italys' Pendolinos contain much more comfortable seats, a proper first class acommodation and a train that actually looks like a train rather than a plane!

I prefer to use Voyagers when travelling virgin, even they themselves apply for many of the issues i stated above. Therefore I avoid virgin trains whenever possible now and much rather take First Great Western or Midland Mainline to the Midlands who operate proper Intercity trains with much more lush looking interiors! These companies actually use the aforementioned Mk3 coaches, and travelling on these trains after sitting on a pendolino for an hour certainly feels like climbing out of a mini and into a jaguar!

However, if it is getting to your destination fast that you're looking for then i would recommend virgin pendolinos, and most people may actually like the new trains. They are usually on time but do suffer from breakdowns and cancellations.

Just don't expect a fast journey at weekends! It may be quicker to use the coach or failing that, walk!