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ROUTES/ FRANCHISES
Virgin Trains (VT) is split up into two franchises. Virgin Cross Country, which runs trains between Glasgow/Edinburgh, Carlisle/Newcastle, Preston/York, Crewe/Derby, Birmingham to destinations such as Bristol, Reading, Bournemouth, Exeter, Plymouth, Penzance. ... Read review
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Advantages: New, fast at acclerating, Virgin Cross Country's alot more frequent than before with at least 1 every 2 hours (varies on location). Disadvantages: Voyagers are 4-car and Super Voyagers are 5-car, but are generally really good to be on.
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Virgin Trains (VT) is split up into two franchises. Virgin Cross Country, which runs trains between Glasgow/Edinburgh, Carlisle/Newcastle, Preston/York, Crewe/Derby, Birmingham to destinations such as Bristol, Reading, Bournemouth, Exeter, Plymouth, Penzance. Virgin Cross Country also runs trains to/from Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh to destinations above.
THE TYPE OF TRAIN WHICH I'M REVIEWING-
Virgin ... ...of your next journey with Virgin Cross Country. This means the train leans into a curve, meaning it can go even faster round curve's than the older trains which are no longer in service with Virgin.
INSIDE, STANDARD CLASS
Inside, in Standard Class, the seats are mainly in "airline" configuration, meaning you get 2 seats together, without a table.
There are still a small amount of table seats, aranged ... more
Now I am a train spotter, and really like the Voyager's, but I will TRY to make this review un-biased. Please also note that this is my first review.
ROUTES/ FRANCHISES
Virgin Trains (VT) is split up into two franchises. Virgin Cross Country, which runs trains between Glasgow/Edinburgh, Carlisle/Newcastle, Preston/York, Crewe/Derby, Birmingham to destinations such as Bristol, Reading, Bournemouth, Exeter, Plymouth, Penzance. Virgin Cross Country also runs trains to/from Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh to destinations above.
THE TYPE OF TRAIN WHICH I'M REVIEWING-
Virgin Cross Country uses class 220 Voyager trains (non tilting) and class 221 Super Voyager trains (can tilt). To the everyday traveller, I'm sure a train's just a train. The difference between the two, apart from having either 4-cars (class 220) or 5-cars (class 221's, except from 4 of them, which are 4-car, like the 220's) are whether or not your train your on has the ability to tilt. If you are on a class 221, you may well tilt on a certain section of your next journey with Virgin Cross Country. This means the train leans into a curve, meaning it can go even faster round curve's than the older trains which are no longer in service with Virgin.
INSIDE, STANDARD CLASS
Inside, in Standard Class, the seats are mainly in "airline" configuration, meaning you get 2 seats together, without a table. There are still a small amount of table seats, aranged with 4 seats around a table.
FIRST CLASS
In First Class (which i allways travel in!), seats allways have a small table, with 2+1 seating giving even bigger room to move about in the cariage. I allways travel first class, because I can get VERY cheap Virgin Value fares on Virgin Trains, when booking 14-days in advance.
First Class ticket holders also get, apart from the obvious wider seats and bigger leg room an at seat service, between Preston/Manchester /Newcastle and Birmingham, Reading and Bristol. The service on Voyagers consists of complimentary drinks- Tea, Coffe, Orange Juice, Virgin Cola, and Water.
You also get a "Club Snack Box", consisting of a small roll- mostly Beef and Onion, or Egg. You also get in it, pretsals, a chocolate bite, and fresh fruit bag- apples and grapes . Recently- Towards the end of August 2005, there seems to now be a limit of only one snack box per person, per journey- I find it very singy that there's now a limit which, for a long journey, is not big enough. (But if you are travelling at weekends, or out of the at-seat area, you can find a way round this...)
ONBOARD FEATURES
Another feature is electronic reservations, telling you the seat number, and if it is reserved or not. (e.g 06- Crewe to Bristol Temple M, 07- This seat is avilable untill Birmingham New Street.)
An onboard shop is avilable between 05:00 and at least 20:00, serving an improved selection of food and drink. It also sells books, magazines, playing cards, and headphones for the entertainment systems which are located at every seat, priced at £2. The entertainment systems on Voyagers & Super Voyagers offer 3 pre-recorded radio channels, and live radio 4.
Voyager's feature quite a few, new items- such as interior displays above each cariage door in the cariage. These tell you which coach your in, and when you have departed from a station tell you where the train is going to, and will call at along the way. (e.g Welcome on board the 10:28 to Plymouth, calling at the following principal staions.... Stations where it calls at ... )
THE TIMETABLES / ARE THEY FREQUENT & ON TIME ?
Virgin Cross Country is very frequent now, compared to before. For example, trains between Birmingham & Bristol are every half an hour (departing xx12 & xx42.) The xx12 ones continue to Plymouth, and x42 ones terminate at Bristol Temple M.
Please note that trains on Weekends vary, with trains often diverted around the main line, with longer journey times. If you are travelling at weekends, and haven't allready bought a ticket for your journey, it's advisable to check train times. Coaches replace trains when there's engineering work, for intermediate points , where the train avoids, on engineering work days.
As for punctuality, Virgin tends to be Very Good, but because their trains are sooo long distance, just a 5-10 min delay could turn into a delay of well over 30 mins, just because the train has lost it's path behind another slower stopping train.
The actual ride quality is good, but If you are tall like me, you might find there's not enough room to strecth out. Please note though, inside standard class, the seats are either purple, or red, depending where abouts in the coach your sitting. (There's a mixture of both inside) The purple seats give you a little more leg room than the red ones.
Links- I was going to include this on the original review, but Ciao says don't include any. Please don't shoot me Ciao for doing this.
www.virgintrains.co.uk
http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/travellingwithus for a 360 degrees virtual tour of a Voyager, or Pendolino: http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/travelling_with_us/our_trains/default.aspx
OVERALL- As I've allready said, I really do like Voyager's, and I hope you do as well, If you've been on one. The only pointable disadvantage is the length, but that's because the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) wouldn't fund any money for VT to buy some more coaches for the trains.
MANY thanks for reading, find attached 2 pictures of Voyagers- the first one being a nameplate, "Sheffield Voyager", and the 2nd being an unidentified Super Voyager north of Blackburn, Lancs.
Advantages: A punctual service Disadvantages: Some seating issues for the taller person
VIRGIN VOYAGER My latest journey to Birmingham New Street on the Virgin Voyager cost £62 return. I departed on the 7:29 “cross country” train from Preston in Lancashire. Preston and Birmingham are on many of the “cross country” train routes which make up one of the national franchises which were awarded following rail privatisation.
The Voyager train was intended to upgrade “cross country” travel when introduced earlier in the noughties. Although ... ...existing ageing virgin fleet, these were modern trains with better acceleration and more comfortable facilities on board. Whenever, I have travelled on the Voyager I have found them generally comfortable, although they did seem to go through a phase of overcrowding a few years ago.
Virgin were expected to have a fifteen year “cross country” franchise ifrom 1997, and coming from the North West of England, I can confirm that Preston is an important ...
MumCC 21.07.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Virgin Voyager
Advantages: Looks good, clean, bright - and new! Disadvantages: Some missed opportunities
...you who have travelled via Virgin Trains lately might have had the fortune to sample one of their new Voyager trains. The new Voyagers have been in service for about nine months now, and as time goes on the depleted and ailing Virgin rolling stock is being replaced with these sparkling new trains. The Voyagers are currently only operating on certain routes in the UK, but of late, I have noticed more and more of them starting to appear. If you have ... ...question is, of course, whether Virgin has exploited every opportunity to upgrade the network.
APPEARANCE
One thing is for sure – you certainly can’t miss these trains. Compared to most of the rolling stock in use on today’s network, the Voyagers are positively space-age in appearance. The main carriages are greyish-silver, with tinted window and sleek styling. The doors in and out of the trains are electric sliding doors, which ...
LostWitness 11.06.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Virgin Voyager
Advantages: new trains, headphone sockets, electric sockets, shop Disadvantages: puctuality, sometimes smelly, not as many carriages
Virgin trains. Well, what can I say? What a change?
I had so many problems with Virgin that I stopped calling committee meetings for our union in Birmingham. It was getting so bad that trains didn't turn up/were cancelled/turned up late or were full when they arrived because the previous train had been cancelled. The last straw came when we were turfed off at Derby because there had been an incident near Sheffield, so we had to travel by coach from ... ...meeting places soon, because of Virgin Voyager trains. OLD TRAINS
Mostly old, late, dirty, full, uncomfortable seats, smelly, noisy, rattly diesel trains. NEW TRAINS
New, streamlined trains that don't make much noise. The seats are more comfortable and have a plug in socket in between the pairs of seats for the headphones that you either bring yourself or buy from the Virgin shop on board. You get Virgin Radio on here- very good for part of the ...
ginger59 03.06.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Virgin Voyager
Advantages: Comfort, space, reliability Disadvantages: Getting to the train station!
...rail travel... but the new Virgin Voyager is something I really do enjoy.
I have to commute Oxford - Birmingham quite often, and the trains along this route are being replaced at a rate of 1 per week with the new Virgin Voyager Trains. This replacement plan is due to finish in a few months' time, with increased trains and much improved reliability. Each train is costing virgin £4million, but it is worth every penny.
The improvement is noticable ... ...each carriage has an electronic display in the window stating it's destination and stations on route. When you board the trains, each pair of seats has a display above showing whether the seat is reserved, and if so, the name of the passenger. This ensures that reservation cards are not removed by people wanting the seat, and your seat is always clearly marked.
Each seat has a fantastic seat pitch (i.e. space between the seat and the back of the ...
adam.hopkinson 07.09.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Virgin Voyager
...premier cross country service the Virgin Voyager on a relatively short distance trip from York to a secret location in the east-midlands.
Despite a relatively short distance by road (about 69 miles) the train journey took almost three hours and it was necessary to change trains three or four times (each way). I had the opportunity therefore to compare about three different train companies and the differences in service were more than remarkable.
... ...and rough-ride I got from Virgin Voyager on the way home.
The Virgin Voyager service (First Class) boasts a complementary snack pack, free tea and coffee, and ‘in-flight’ entertainment, this being access to the built in radio next to your seat, the snack pack includes among other things a set of headphones, for you to tune into your chosen station, and listen in private to your favourite station.
Virgin Say, “First Class is the ...
jouk04 02.12.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Virgin Voyager
Frequency of trains
Reliability of trains
Comfort of trains
On-board facilities
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When the company Arriva took over the franchise which Virgin Trains previously held before the 11th November 2007 the Voyagers were still as bad as they are today. But since then I believe that they have done very little to modernise their second had rolling stock and as a result their journeys are uncomfortable, noisy and generally unpleasant, with very little space to put your bags and other things. There are some exceptions to this however, as this only accounts with long railway journeys on their Voyager stock, not their 'fantastic' HSTs (High Speed Trains)!
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