Via Dolorosa

Easter April  2003

Hi!

At Easter this year I travelled north with Virgin Rail en route to Dumfries via Carlisle. The service was the 14.30 from Euston on Thursday 17th April.

Somewhere around Milton Keynes, we  started slowing down then eventually stopped. Finally, the guard announced that there were problems on the line caused by the sun's heat distorting the rails. We should have to proceed at a reduced speed. A new one on me.  Initially half an hour behind schedule, by the time we reached Warrington we had lost an hour. The guard did his best to communicate with passengers and busied himself trying to resolve any problems with connections. He was by far the most professional member of on-board staff I have encountered on Virgin. I am sorry I didn't get his name.

At Preston we got another guard whose reply to queries about connections at Carlisle was that we should have to ask station staff when we arrived. Arriving 35 minutes or so late into Carlisle, a group of us from the Glasgow train had missed our connections to  Dumfries and Kilmarnock. There were no station staff in evidence. Fortunately, having had experience of this sort before, I knew where to go. At the unmarked office we found a member of staff who appeared to be hiding and somewhat reluctant to attend to the twenty or so people looking for advice. In a haphazard fashion one man took details of some of the people waiting- others were still looking for someone to talk to.  Then he disappeared without saying what  was going to happen next. We had been told there would 'probably' be road transport provided.

He finally returned and ordered "The first five" to board  a waiting taxi. Meanwhile other passengers  were still arriving,  completely unaware what was going on. Those who had arrived at his office first, and were the people who had first talked with him, came forward. We repeated our destinations- just to be clear. All he could do was bark "First five" at us and at other innocents who came up to ask for advice.  Having boarded taxis, we arrived at Dumfries about 50 minutes late where friends and family had not been informed of the situation- in fact they had been told that those they were waiting for would be arriving on the next train- around 22.00.  The whole thing was just badly handled from start to finish.

RETURN   22nd April 2003

  

Returning to London on Tuesday April  22nd. Awaiting the connection 14.56 from Glagow, minutes before the train was due to depart, information came that there would be a delay of some 20 minutes. Finally we left some 35 minutes late and continued south. There has been problems with a derailment over Easter weekend and I had phoned to check whether  there would be any problems and was told that everything on the line was "back to normal".  

 An interesting phrase which, on consideration,  I should perhaps have thought about a bit more.

We started slowing down in the Midlands and were eventually told that we should be diverting through the Birmingham area because of engineering works but would pick up time. All this time passengers in my carriage were suffering from chilly air being belted out of vents at ankle level. Others took refuge in our carriage because there was no lighting in their compartment. As usual the sliding doors to our compartment were in spasm due to overcrowding in the luggage racks. (Incidentally I have just traveled from Birmingham  in a carriage which despite its Virgin livery must have dated from the 1980's). Due to arrive 18.52 we crawled along suburban lines, eventually  picking up speed through Warwickshire and finally arrived  at approximately  20.20  cold and late.

It's been about a year since I last travelled on Virgin. Nothing has changed. Except the fares.

Since Easter I have been out of the country. Now that I have been united with my records I am taking the opportunity to write to you.    

 So let's ride and ride and ride and ride
Oh, oh, Singing la la la la lalalala


Hi again,

I'm sending details of  two recent journeys made on Virgin Rail during the last fortnight, together with an account  of journeys on the same route made earlier this year that was drafted but never sent. In the light of recent experience I now forward these comments together with notes on other journeys with Virgin. 

In my experience absolutely nothing has changed since 2001 when I last remonstrated with you about the continuing bad service we have had to endure since 1996. Nothing except the fares, that is. Your current posters celebrating smart new Virgin rolling stock proudly boasting in-seat musical entertainment and A Shop selling CDs and DVDs will hardly endear your company to passengers who simply require a comfortable seat in a punctual train operated by efficient and polite staff. Instead, for the foreseeable future it seems, they will have to  endure the decrepit running stock and abysmal service provided by Virgin trains on the Glasgow  line.  The crass marketing campaign merely adds insult to injury as they stand waiting for delayed services.

Yours sincerely,

LONDON-DUMFRIES-LONDON (VIA CARLISLE) October-November 2003

OUTWARD  JOURNEY  29th October

On 28th October I reserved by phone  a seat on the 10.30 Euston to Glasgow service, travelling en route to Dumfries via Carlisle. I was allocated an airline seat (a table was not available) in the Quiet Coach.   I arrived to find my reserved seat was in fact at a table, which was welcome, but that  the supposed Quiet Coach was not identified as such, and despite regular announcements at stations there was no enforcement of the policy. Obviously, without stickers it is been difficult for passengers to remonstrate with their neighbours. This is by no means the first time this has happened.

After a short time it was clear that the sliding partition doors to the carriage were jammed. A cold draught blew down the length of the coach. The heating if on was ineffective. When I asked the guard  if there was a problem with the heat  I was told, abruptly, I could always move to the next carriage.  I replied that I would rather just be comfortable in the seat that I had reserved (Apart from the fact that  I had work papers spread in front of me and also had three bags)  He stared blankly at me and stalked off. We never saw him again

The toilets  were grubby  and scuffed and decortated with grafitti. The water only trickled from the  tap in the toilets then stopped altogether. The door on the cubicle  opposite had had the lock mechanism punched out and swung on its hinges.

Gradually we began to slow down. At  Stafford we were 30 mins late and were told this was due to 'essential engineering works'. The night before I had been expressly told there were no problems on the line.  There were no further announcements

By Preston we were running 50 minutes late. There was still, however,  no announcement  regarding delays until  we were leaving the station. By this time it was too late too inform my family who were coming to pick me up that I would miss the 14.30 connection from Carlisle to Dumfries. The new guard at first struggled with the pressure of passengers' problems caused by the delay. He rallied, though, and attempted to get the Dumfries train held at Carlisle and then called Dumfries station staff to inform those meeting the connection that London passengers had been delayed.  The guard's name was Tommy and  he should be complimented. This however does not obviate the fact that  with this problem happening all the time on this line that there is still no SOP to deal the situation. It's always as if this is  the first time it ever happened. Are Virgin in some sort of denial over their poor service.

We arrived  at Carlisle at 15.10. There were no Virgin staff meeting the train to help passengers. Fortunately most of us were now familiar with the situation, but what about travellers making the journey for the first time, foreign tourists for example? As usual, Virgin staff were hiding away in their anonymous office. They set about organising transport by road. We eventually crammed into taxis. Why is it that rail staff throughout UK are unable to foresee that pasengers will be likely to have bulky luggage with them and order transport accordingly? With cases crammed into the  open boot of a black cab we set off at reduced speed, required by law, and arrived at Dumfries Station sometime after 16.00. There had been no announcement to those meeting  the missed connection.

P.T.O

THE RETURN 11th November

On 11th November I called  the Virgin Booking line to reserve a seat for my return to London. Despite my being painfully explicit staff were still unable to understand that I had an open return and was embarking on the return portion of my journey. As on previous occasions I was asked "And when are you returning?" I explained at great length. The very pleasant woman then  asked for a reference number which I appeared not to have. Having provided the date of my outward journey and my  post code she told me my name. Not that I really need that information. I was asked to bear with her. And then, after 10 minutes on the line, was cut off.

I waited for 5 minutes. When it was clear that she was not going to phone me back, I called again and asked to speak with the same woman by name. An harassed young man told me that this wouldn't be possible and that no she would have had no record of my number to call me back. That seems absurd. However there was no remonstrating with him. We started from scratch. Again the same problems described above re Return re reference numbers. He asked me to bear with him. I insisted that he tokk my phone mnumber which he reluctanly did. He finally came back on line and told me that the service I wished to travel on was unreservable. He asked if I would like to speak to a supervisor. I said yes. He went off to investigate the matter. There were strange noises on the line and  after a long delay he came back and then announced  that all the data he had noted had been lost. We started again. He asked me to bear with him and he went off to speak to 'a different department'. He came back and told me that the Scot Rail portion of my journey was unreservable. This I knew.  He then gave me a Seat Reservation number. I pointed out that I hadn't had the opportunity to specify my preference for a table seat in a Quiet Coach (though with hindsight I can't think why I bothered). Understandably frustrated, he asked me to bear with him once more and went off again, warning of my probable disappointment. He was  successful, however, and forty minutes after picking up the phone I had my reservation.

This was a dreary repetition of countless similar experiences. is it possible I am the only person who has to travel on Open Returns? Is there really no standard procedure for staff to arrange reservations on these tickets?

The next day, 12/11/03,I arrived  at Carlisle from Dumfires to find screens announcing  delays. When I enquired about the 14.56 from Glasgow  I was told  by  a Virgin employee that the delays were  affecting north-bound trains only. He seemed upset that I should suspect  a more widespread problem. The 14.56 arrived c.14.55 and we all boarded the train. The departure time came and went and then an announcement was made that due to to signal failure  in the Oxenholme area (or, according to later announcements, a points failure in the Carlisle area- no-one seemed sure) our departure would be delayed.  Indefinitely.  After 30 minutes or so, just as  I was about to take a train to Newcastle and travel down by the Eastern line, platform staff told passengers to board the train  After more delay, we crawled out of the station and  then  stopped again. Then we began our slow progress to Oxenholme. 

Having booked a Quiet Coach seat I found my seat in coach E and discovered  that, as on the outward journey there were no notices identifying this as the Quiet Coach. Later on I realised from familiar squalor and grafitti in the toilets that this was in fact the same coach I had travelled up in. The only difference was that this time there were no announcements even referring  to the existence of a Quiet Coach. (There were however announcements asking us to study safety information, which wasn't there) As before, the sliding doors in Coach E (and F) were jammed allowing the familiar chilly draught to whistle around passengers' feet; as before the water in the wash basins quickly ran dry.

Another long delay at Shap then after Oxenholme we picked up speed and arrived at Preston 40-50 minutes late. Leaving Crewe we began to slow down again and eventually crawled to a halt somewhere near Lichfield. After some time an anouncement was made that there had been another signal failure with another indefinite delay. About 40 minutes later we moved again and carried on to London arriving at 21.40- 2 hrs 15 minutes late.

And everything was made for you and me
All of it was made for you and me
'Cause it just belongs to you and me
So let's take a ride and see what's mine
Singing la la la la  lala la la