Virgin Voyager > Reviews > from virgin on the ridiculous to virgin marvellous

Author's product rating:   

Frequency of trains	Good
Reliability of trains	Mostly on time
Comfort of trains	Very comfortable
On-board facilities	Excellent

Advantages:	new trains, headphone sockets, electric sockets, shop
Disadvantages:	puctuality, sometimes smelly, not as many carriages

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

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 Derby to Leeds..took hours!

So we meet elsewhere now....mind you I might be changing my mind on 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 journey.

There is also a socket to plug your mobile phone in to recharge, or your laptop computer. Handy if you're about to run out of battery!

The Virgin Shop sells a selection of tasty sandwiches- the chargrilled vegetable is delicious. Not too expensive, either- somewthere around £2.50.
You can get a hot or cold drink or an alcoholic drink from the shop, cake, crisps or nuts as well.

Fancy something to read? There are books and some small games to buy- and of course the headphones for the radio.

FACILITIES

The toilets are quite space age and huge inside..you could hold a conference there...- shut at the press of a switch- remember to lock the door by pressing the right button...I was there when someone pressed the button to see a girl sitting on the loo with her knickers round her ankles! I think the scream could be heard in Edinburgh!! And the girl wasn't too pleased , either!

A quiet coach. Ususally coach F. No mobiles or computers allowed. Nobody told them that noisy children and crying babies should nt be put in here, though...far from quiet yesterday afternoon!

However, some of the new trains I've recently been on seem to have leaked and there has been stained carpets and a nasty smell in the corridor..not very nice.

The shop is a good idea because you can be sure that on a long journey you'll be dying for a drink. Just so you know, they shut to do stocktaking before they get to Birmingham on the cross country line, but open shortly after if you are travelling onwards.

The staff are very helpful and pleasant and will help you if they can. Yesterday there was someone on the train who wanted to bring a bike on with him and had struggled. He hadn't thought to book a ticket and a reservation for the bike- and the train manager explained very patiently why he should do..The man was a bit snooty but the train manager was patient and calm and I thought he'd done well not to poke the bloke in the eye...even accidentally!

LOW POINTS
The smelly corriders for one thing.
Puctuality could be better, although I have noticed that on the last 3 journies into Birmingham I have arrrived near or nearabouts on time...that IS a big improvement.

HIGH POINTS
New trains that are faster and less bone rattling than the old ones. They are quieter too.

So NINE OUT OF TEN FOR IMPROVEMENT,VIRGIN!!!

And I might move my committee meetings to Birmingham in response!