V-Flyer

I was going to a birthday party in Glasgow yesterday so had booked a £50 Virgin Trains first class fare.

The service was the 0730hrs service from Euston to Glasgow Central, on a Pendolino.

I popped into the Virgin Trains "First" "Class" lounge at Euston. Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear. Listen, if you've lost your free 18 December 2012 copy of Time Out, this lounge has hundreds. Not a newspaper in sight and the place is seriously grubby.

On to the train journey itself...

My ticket was checked five times.
At Glasgow they checked my ticket again. Infuriating. The checks were not timed with departures from stations so became irritating.

Frequent announcements were made encouraging people to try Weekend First for just £25. First Class was more or less empty, which damns Virgin Trains pricing policies. Last minute tickets were selling for £73.50 in Standard and £229 in First Class. The supply/demand argument falls flat as the train was empty, and they could have offered tickets for Standard Price + £25 on their website, if they really wanted to.



The on-board service consisted of free WiFi, teas and coffees and a snack pack. The snack pack contained a bite size "Eat Natural" bar, a croissant and jam pack and some yogurt nuts and raisins. It was pretty rubbish. Served by an unsmiling unhelpful staff member who couldn't have made it more obvious that he didn't want to be there. Can you imagine if I had paid £229?



On a four and a half hour journey I was offered two cups of coffee.
The WiFi didn't work and the smell of toilet permeated the train, a problem that Virgin insists they have fixed a long time ago.

Before long, we arrived in a sunny Scotland and a very sunny Glasgow.





I think this marks my last non-essential Virgin Trains journey.
I can't be bothered with them anymore.

You'd think that they would try to up their game to keep public opinion on their side.

Thanks for the TR, what a poor experience at all levels. Perhaps the over enthusiastic ticket collector should offer teas/coffees at the same time?!!!

Well, I've travelled first regularly on Virgin trains for a few years and can comment on a few things here.

I usually so the Wolverhampton to London route, but sometimes from Wolverhampton to Glasgow (4 hours), and some of my London trains are served from Glasgow and Edinburgh...

On a Saturday and Sunday, yes, you can upgrade. Most of the times if you buy from the website, they'll sell you standard class ticket + Upgrade price (as an "off peak" which doesn't usually exist as a first ticket). Of course, you can pay the anytime if you want, but yes, the 229 quid doesn't represent good value at a weekend, or during the week.

While it does seem a bit excessive to check the ticket 4 times, its better than the complete lack of ticket checks that happen sometimes. I've been on some trains with no checks and the carriage is effectively decomissioned, people without first class tickets will sit in the carriage expecting to be chucked out, but don't. So it could be worse...

During the week you'll get a sandwich or hot food (breakfast till 10am, hot meal from 5 to 7pm), plus a drink (can be alcoholic, but not with breakfast). Its usually ok, but doesn't match the rise in price, but often economy is not far off the advance first price.

You can occasionally get a ticket during the week (before after 10 and before 1pm, after 8pm) for as little as 23 quid single on my route. I've never seen any worthwhile discounts on the Glasgow routes since Virgin took over in the 90's though.

And the first class lounge is crap. Some of them are a bit nicer (probably due to lack of crowd), but no better facilities. Crewe is Ok. Manchester has a nice view of the station concourse, Brum is small, Birmingham International is ok. None in Glasgow though.

Sounds like a disappointing trip Sealink.. shame given Virgin Trains should be pushing good service to keep the public on their side and to keep their trains running