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Transport - Virgin Trains

TrainA Virgin express train was so full that TEN people packed into a toilet. One sat on the loo and the others crammed in like sardines around him. Computer worker Paul Downing boarded the 12.51 Edinburgh to Exeter service at Preston. He said, “It was so crowded you would not want an animal to travel on it (in fact, it would be illegal). All the aisles were packed with people standing. Passengers sat on every inch of floor. One toilet was out of order and the other was crammed with people who had nowhere else to go. It was a large cubicle to allow wheelchair access but it was never meant to be so full. There must have been at least ten in there. I squeezed in on the gangway outside.”

The train, consisting of just four coaches, was running 30 minutes late (of course) because of the number getting on and off at each station, said Paul, from Suffolk. One woman was sitting on the floor trying to feed her baby. Virgin Rail said, “There was an unexpected and particularly heavy demand for this train. The train manager can turn passengers away in extreme circumstances but this is not a popular move. We apologise to customers who were inconvenienced.” No compensation though!

Virgin Trains were criticised by the Government following the news that fares were to rise by 10%. Junior transport minister Keith Hill said the increases on the West Coast mainline related to unregulated fares. Responding to a Commons written question from Tory Michael Jack, Mr Hill said the Strategic Rail Authority would be meeting representatives from Virgin Trains to discuss the matter. But he added, "In light of recent disruption on the rail network, and the wish to attract more passengers to rail, the Government finds Virgin's announcement regrettable." The development followed criticism of the increases from Margaret Beckett, the Leader of the House. When asked about the fare rises by Mr Jack during business questions, Mrs Beckett said she shared his concerns. She said, "It's hard to see how it will attract passengers back to the railway."

Virgin Trains was blaming a rise of almost 10% in prices on the aftermath of the Hatfield disaster. Passengers who had endured months of delays on the rail network would have to pay the increased ticket prices. Virgin said it regretted the increase and blamed Railtrack for failing to provide adequate compensation for disruption caused by the Hatfield crash. A Virgin spokesman said, "We are very unhappy with the situation, which is entirely out of our control. Rail users are having to help pick up the pieces from the Hatfield disaster, which they shouldn't have to do."

The spokesman said the company was concerned that passenger numbers would fall as a result of the increases, but said, "We are trying our best to minimise the impact on passengers." He said the Hatfield disaster had cost Virgin more than £100 million in lost revenue, but Railtrack had offered less than half that sum in compensation. A standard open return fare from London to Manchester increased from £150 to £164; Birmingham to London from £80 to £87.50; Exeter to Birmingham from £83 to £91; and Preston to London from £155 to £170. The company froze the cost of Virgin Value tickets and planned to run various promotions offering cut-price fares.

Virgin Trains told rail passengers wanting to take advantage of their half-price ticket offer to be patient. Since the promotion was launched at a cost of £10 million, customers said they couldn't get tickets. They said telephone lines were jammed, the website was too busy and the queues were too long at stations. A Virgin Trains spokesman said the offer was like a sale and said they had been swamped by 367,000 calls as opposed to around 20,000 on a normal day. "We are doing all we can. It is a popular offer," he added. "We would ask people to bear with us and keep trying."

Richard Branson announced the half-price ticket scheme in a bid to lure travellers back on to the trains following the disruption caused by the Hatfield crash and poor weather. The spokesman said all Virgin Trains ticket prices were being dropped by 50% but added monthly and annual ticket prices would remain the same, as these customers had already received compensation.

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