Virgin Trains - Virgin Voyager 10.46 Bournemouth - Edinburgh service on 10.07.06

Let_Robinson_Sing

Got on this service at Bournemouth travelling to Preston i was angered to find that the train was a carriage smaller than normally but i shrugged my shoulders and got my laptop out and did my work however the train got very very busy to the extent that the corridors were packed full of passengers consequently it was difficult to get to the loo and buffet car, this was a sheer violation of Health & Safety.

Not happy with service on the train the fact that the train was under carriaged and there was no staff around to assist the old and incapacitated passengers.

Wrote a complaint letter hopefully will get a reply soon.

Normally have no problems with virgin trains but that service was terrible

tenof26

my one experience of going derby to edinburgh was train overpacked, seat taken, and the only place i could find to sit was in the luggage compartment at the end, and even that was almost full

i just shrugged it off, at the end of the day, i got from A to B

maybe there were delays or cancellations that day? and maybe there was on yours to?

i hope you do get a reply and hopefully some vouchers or something, maybe i should of done so to :-/

Let_Robinson_Sing

tenof26 wrote:

my one experience of going derby to edinburgh was train overpacked, seat taken, and the only place i could find to sit was in the luggage compartment at the end, and even that was almost full

i just shrugged it off, at the end of the day, i got from A to B

maybe there were delays or cancellations that day? and maybe there was on yours to?

i hope you do get a reply and hopefully some vouchers or something, maybe i should of done so to :-/

hmm i am unsure why it was busy but i do the journey quite often and it never seems to be that busy but it might have just been a few cancellations. i probably would just shrug it off if it was cheaper however its the cost that spurs me on with the complaint, I mean I do use my Young Persons railcard so Preston - Bournemouth return is £60.25 its not that bad but its a lot if its a regular journey and being a student.

Sorry that you had a bad experience on your journey did you not try and get the person in your seat to move?

Fingers crossed that Virgin Trains have some compassion to send me a voucher or two

zappomatic

If you have a seat reservation you can ask the person sitting in your seat to get up, or get the guard to do it in which case they have to move. Probably a bit of a challenge on such a packed train though!

starlite_2

I have complained to virgin over a similar incident and got my ticket fully refunded. It's worth writing to them to tell them what happened.

in our case we dashed onto the train just as it was about to leave, walked through three very packed carriages to find the doors between the next carriage and the one we were in wouldn't open, lots of people were trying to open them, and cramming me and my baby into a tiny space and no guard/inspector came to help for half an hour..the carriages we couldn't reach were almost empty....very annoying, and dangerous!

indiegirl_2

This is becoming an all-too regular occurrence on our railways. When will these rail companies learn that the benefits of putting an extra carriage or two on a train far outweigh the costs - for one, their compensation claims would reduce!

I've experienced a similar situation to the OP - I travelled from the South West to the Midlands on a 4-carriage train one school half term (big mistake). Despite having a seat reservation, it was impossible to move in the train - and I ended up sat in the vestibule opposite the toilet (lovely), which we then learned was the only toilet out of four on the train working - so we had loads of people trying to squeeze past us to get to it. People were sat on the floor of the buffet cart - if I could've, I'd have got up above the seats and laid out! The train manager didn't even dare show his/her face (probably couldn't even get through anyway!)

I complained to Virgin who offered a measly £15 goodwill gesture. It concerns me that these overcrowded trains are a massive health and safety hazard - what if there'd been a fire or an emergency?

bobbywomble

what a lot of people dont know is that in the case of a hst service such as virgin cross country or voyager, the senior conductor (or on train manager as they like to call them now)
can in such times declassify a carriage from 1st class to standard.
they like to keep that one quiet.
this could be right result if your one of the lucky ones
the way to push for it is to inform the conductor of the problem tell him you know it is a "shortform" and ask him if he is going to knock a carriage down to standard class due to overcrowding....
if he says no, tell him you will call customer services and complain about the health and safety
hope it helps
rob

grex9101

in actual fact, there is NO legal upper limit on the amount of people allowed on a train, just a recommended limit.

scary, huh?

Let_Robinson_Sing

bobbywomble wrote:

what a lot of people dont know is that in the case of a hst service such as virgin cross country or voyager, the senior conductor (or on train manager as they like to call them now)
can in such times declassify a carriage from 1st class to standard.
they like to keep that one quiet.
this could be right result if your one of the lucky ones
the way to push for it is to inform the conductor of the problem tell him you know it is a "shortform" and ask him if he is going to knock a carriage down to standard class due to overcrowding....
if he says no, tell him you will call customer services and complain about the health and safety of yourself and fellow passengers
get his employee number and this will normally do the trick.

hope it helps
rob

I actually remember this happening i was travelling to Oxenholme from Preston the train was packed and an announcement came on and it said that we can go in first class so i took advantage of this.

Anyway i did get a letter from VT on Saturday apologising for what had happened and sent me a £15 voucher which was good.

With regards to over crowding i think its going to take a derailment or a crash when a train is packed to change the law on this unfortunately

yeslek

i 'v been on a fair few journeys where i'v had to stand by the door in the passage way's.

its more likely i'd have to stand up on a train than not.

and for the prices they charge its disgusting.
for the little bit of extra stress of parking and driving down i'd rather do the work myself.

i worked out it cost me £23 MAX to drive to an from london, and the cheapest train fair is £25 if booked 2 weeks in advance - thats a saving of £2 for a journey that would take an extra 30mins.

Altarf

yeslek wrote:

i worked out it cost me £23 MAX to drive to an from london, and the cheapest train fair is £25 if booked 2 weeks in advance - thats a saving of £2 for a journey that would take an extra 30mins.

It must be nice to get given a free car and only have to pay for the petrol you put in it.