I Hate Virgin Trains

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
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Bicycler
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Re: I Hate Virgin Trains

Post by Bicycler »

I also tend to pay through the East Coast or First sites (TransPennine Express and Great Western, both of whom use the East Coast engine). I found out yesterday that the First sites still offer free delivery on all tickets.

NRE is quite good in allowing you to play a bit with connection times. It's not particularly user friendly but http://www.takethetrain.co.uk shows overtaken trains which may not be shown by others.
Flinders
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Re: I Hate Virgin Trains

Post by Flinders »

TonyR wrote:
Flinders wrote:If anyone is thinking of avoiding Virgin and saving their money (as well as getting into London earlier without having to take out a mortgage on the fare) I suggest they go to London Midland's own site to avoid being ripped off and getting stuck with Virgin. :?


I don't know when you are looking and what you think needs a mortgage but there are plenty of Advance Standard Single fares available on Virgin from Stafford to London for around £16.50 or on London Midlands for £7.00. The latter do take longer though.


The problem with advance fares is that they tie you to specific trains. And though you can get down to London quite cheaply in a single advance if you don't mind when you travel, it's more expensive to get there and back at the times we need.
Flinders
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Re: I Hate Virgin Trains

Post by Flinders »

Bicycler wrote:I also tend to pay through the East Coast or First sites (TransPennine Express and Great Western, both of whom use the East Coast engine). I found out yesterday that the First sites still offer free delivery on all tickets.

NRE is quite good in allowing you to play a bit with connection times. It's not particularly user friendly but http://www.takethetrain.co.uk shows overtaken trains which may not be shown by others.


I will take a look at that link, thank you.

Edit, have now looked, and that site does have all the elusive cheaper trains on it. :D Thanks again.
Last edited by Flinders on 10 Nov 2014, 10:24am, edited 1 time in total.
Flinders
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Re: I Hate Virgin Trains

Post by Flinders »

Bicycler wrote:
TonyR wrote:or on London Midlands for £7.00. The latter do take longer though.

I think that last bit may be the answer to the anomaly. NRE doesn't routinely show trains which get overtaken. There used to be a tick box option for showing overtaken trains but it seems to have gone in the last redesign


I wonder why they chose to remove that? Well, no I don't wonder. :evil:
bikepacker
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Re: I Hate Virgin Trains

Post by bikepacker »

Flinders wrote:
bikepacker wrote:As I have said previously most of my experiences with Virgin Trains and other train companies have been very good.


I've just been trying to book trains for a trip to London from Stafford (not with bikes).
As Virgin are too expensive, as well as uncomfortable for me (tilting trains make me throw up unless I stand up all the way) I go by London Midland.
Except no matter how you add in your data, or what boxes you check, the National Rail Enquiries site doesn't display a lot of the London Midland trains.
How curious.
If I hadn't known better, I'd have assumed that I could only get one of two LM trains back in the evening. In the same time three-hours period there are at least three other LM trains that NRE don't list.
It's almost as if NRI don't want you to use London Midland trains................ :evil:

If anyone is thinking of avoiding Virgin and saving their money (as well as getting into London earlier without having to take out a mortgage on the fare) I suggest they go to London Midland's own site to avoid being ripped off and getting stuck with Virgin. :?


Go on the London Midland website, put in your journey and tick the box that says LM trains. You will probably get at change at Bham New Street but trains from Stafford and those to London usually leave from the opposite ends of the same platform. If you don't get a cheap enough fare try splitting into two by putting in Stafford to Bham and Bham to London.

This site will also allow you to book bikes on trains should you ever need.

Play about with the journey options, you may save yourself a lot of money for a few minutes on the computer. This year I did two trips to Scotland at under £40 return when the normal return fare would have been over £180.
There is your way. There is my way. But there is no "the way".
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mjr
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Re: I Hate Virgin Trains

Post by mjr »

Flinders wrote:The problem with advance fares is that they tie you to specific trains. And though you can get down to London quite cheaply in a single advance if you don't mind when you travel, it's more expensive to get there and back at the times we need.

Times which I don't think you've said so no-one can really help but it does look like an open off-peak return on London Midland only is £37 (1h52 the fastest journey but may take about 3h, compared to typical 1h19 on Virgin), or a split-ticket Anytime Return is about £60 (but you'd have to be careful where the trains stop and/or change trains - see http://split.traintimes.org.uk/STA/EUS/y/05:54). The headline walk-up fares of over £200 are fairly horrible, though. Another symptom of not having enough seats on those routes?
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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Bicycler
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Re: I Hate Virgin Trains

Post by Bicycler »

I'd love to know how few people actually buy those fares. I'm guessing it is almost always people on expenses...

Bear in mind also that those who board trains without tickets are only eligible to buy the full anytime fare so they do act as a disincentive to fare dodgers
Flinders
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Re: I Hate Virgin Trains

Post by Flinders »

Bicycler wrote:I'd love to know how few people actually buy those fares. I'm guessing it is almost always people on expenses...

Bear in mind also that those who board trains without tickets are only eligible to buy the full anytime fare so they do act as a disincentive to fare dodgers


Some years ago, for reasons to complicate to explain here, I was given a first-class monthly rover ticket. I got the very expensive early train to London a few times. I'd say the people on it would indeed be pretty much all on expenses, nearly all males in suits with briefcases, etc. I was the weirdo exception, much stared at, as a female not in posh clothes. The first class carriages were pretty full, and that must be what- about £400 return, now?

On some routes the conductor would begin by politely explaining to me I was in the wrong carriage (i.e. First) before even examining my ticket. The British attitude to class and appearance, eh? :mrgreen:
TonyR
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Re: I Hate Virgin Trains

Post by TonyR »

Bicycler wrote:I'd love to know how few people actually buy those fares. I'm guessing it is almost always people on expenses...


They're sold to anyone who needs to travel at short notice which is mainly on business. Same with first class or flights or last minute hotel bookings The good thing is that the people paying those fares mean the fares for the rest of us can be lower. If those fares were reduced the rest would need to be raised a bit to cover the shortfall. Meanwhile for those of us for whom cost is important, we just need to be flexible and arrange travel in advance to get much better prices.
jgurney
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Re: I Hate Virgin Trains

Post by jgurney »

I've just been trying to book trains for a trip to London from Stafford (not with bikes).
As Virgin are too expensive, as well as uncomfortable for me (tilting trains make me throw up unless I stand up all the way) I go by London Midland.


Do not disregard Chiltern Trains from Birmingham Moor Street to London, especially their loco-hauled 'silver service' trains.

They are a bit slower than Virgin but much more comfortable, and I recently got advance singles for £6.
Edwards
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Re: I Hate Virgin Trains

Post by Edwards »

All this stuff about different web sites and prices for the same train. Splitting journeys and going at set times.
Makes me wonder if it would be quicker to drive than the time taken just to get a ticket at
a reasonable cost.
Makes me glad I can not get on a train.
Keith Edwards
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Sweep
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Re: I Hate Virgin Trains

Post by Sweep »

Bicycler wrote:
Bear in mind also that those who board trains without tickets are only eligible to buy the full anytime fare so they do act as a disincentive to fare dodgers

Fair point, but it highlights the craziness of the brit system when the ticket purchase is actually the fine :)

God knows what tourists think of it all.
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mjr
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Re: I Hate Virgin Trains

Post by mjr »

Edwards wrote:All this stuff about different web sites and prices for the same train. Splitting journeys and going at set times.
Makes me wonder if it would be quicker to drive than the time taken just to get a ticket at
a reasonable cost.
Makes me glad I can not get on a train.

Oh come on, the routing choices for driving a motor vehicle are far worse and it is considerably more difficult to work out the journey cost, especially in advance.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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MikeF
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Re: I Hate Virgin Trains

Post by MikeF »

iviehoff wrote:
MikeF wrote:Steam trains didn't have much problem with slipping on leaves because the the linesides were kept clear of trees and they had sanding boxes if the wheels slipped.

In steam era, they had to keep the vegetation clear because of fire risk. Since then trees have grown up and the neighbours like the trees for the screening. They've done a huge vegetation clear-out around us recently in combination with a program of embankment and cutting stabilisation, and some places where the train was previously well hidden it is now prominently visible, and people are not always very happy about it.

Some modern trains have sand-boxes, more particularly trams and light rail as they are more prone to slipping.

Yes, unfortunately we are now too obsessed with trees to the detriment of other plants. For example this year the Bluebell Railway banks were a mass of thousands possibly hundreds of thousands of primroses. :) But of course there's a lot of manual work involved, and Network Rail use a broad spectrum herbicide to kill everything.

I don't like travelling on Pendelino trains even without a bike.
And we have an absolutely crazy system of fare pricing - why?
"It takes a genius to spot the obvious" - my old physics master.
I don't peddle bikes.
Bicycler
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Re: I Hate Virgin Trains

Post by Bicycler »

MikeF wrote:And we have an absolutely crazy system of fare pricing - why?

History and shoddy privatisation and it really isn't as easy as you might think to sort it all out.
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