Virgin Trains - responses to recent blog posts

Virgin Trains have given me permission to reproduce the responses to some of the issues that I have raised in recent blog posts. The following email has not been edited by me.


Dear Mr Chapman,

Thank you very much for your correspondence, which we received in this office on 29
September 2011. I am sorry that our response has been delayed.


I am very sorry that we were unable to reserve a seat in the area you requested. I
understand how disappointed you will have been, particularly as you had planned
ahead.

From what you have told us, it is likely there werent any seats available that matched
your request on that particular train when you made your reservation. I do hope that you
will accept my apologies for the inconvenience caused.

I can confirm that coach E is left as unreserved on our Pendolinos, with further
unreserved seating spread throughout the train on both our Voyagers and Pendolinos.

The number of reserved seats can vary from train to train, according to the anticipated
number of passengers for a service, but roughly 30-40% of seating will be left as
unreserved on any particular train, in order to accommodate passengers travelling on
open tickets without a reservation.


I also understand your comments about the on-board announcements. This is actually
an area we are looking closely at. The challenge is to strike a sensible balance between
keeping customers informed, and not intruding upon your travel time. I know how
frustrating it can be when that balance is not right.

Please accept my apologies for the way your journey was disturbed, and I will make sure
your comments are included as part of our review.


Thank you too for letting us know of your experience of our on-board WiFi.

Since we introduced WiFi on our trains we have seen usage more than double in terms
of numbers of user sessions per month. This is putting increasing pressure onto the
infrastructure and so to alleviate this we are rolling out an improvement programme
across the fleet to double the potential available bandwidth of the wifi.

The WiFi relies on the UK 3G infrastructure for the majority of journeys supplemented by
some WiMax connectivity. We have chosen to add 3G connections from the widest
possible range of carriers to ensure not only that we present the most bandwidth
available at any time, but that we also present the most consistent picture of connectivity
across our network. The system is completely different to the East Coast system, which
relies on a satellite dish on the train roof, for which we do not have the space.

The on board equipment is very reliable, and checked regularly by auditors. The system
provider, Nomad, also receives a lot of data about system performance by vehicle, and is
quick to spot any vehicles with problems, or even simply low wi fi usage. If there are
issues to do with system performance, these are external to the train in almost all cases,
and not something that can be cured by a system reset on board the train.

I do note the comments and we will consider how this can be improved.


I share your concern about there being no ticket inspections made during your journey.
This is something we place particular importance upon, and so your feedback is
especially useful.

I would add, however, that there are strict procedures to follow when making refunds on
tickets, and we will do our best to prevent false claims. The rules state that we will give
consideration to applications for refunds on unused or partly used tickets, which are
returned within 28 days of expiry validity. For any tickets, which are surrendered after the
date of outward travel shown, we will need to know the reasons why they were not used,
and may need to see supporting documentation.


I also understand your comments about the First Class accommodation being
particularly empty during your journey.

We do a lot of work to help spread passenger loadings between First and Standard
Class facilities. That is why there are, for example, some real bargains to be had for First
Class travel outside of peak times. We will also use the discounted Advance tickets to
encourage Standard Class travellers to use the quieter trains. We are having quite a lot
of success in doing this, but as your journey demonstrates there are still challenges for
us.

I will make sure the team responsible for the allocation of the cheaper tickets is aware of
your comments.


Finally, I am concerned that you found the wash basins out of use on your trains.

The main cause of this is normally either a technical failure, or lack of water on board.
Depending on the work involved, technical failures can often only be rectified at the
depot overnight. We will however make every effort to rectify the situation at the earliest
opportunity.

Thank you for your comments. Your feedback on our services is very much appreciated.

Yours sincerely

Jason Hood
Customer Relations
customer.relations@virgintrains.co.uk