Virgin Trains - Nothing Special ...
This is the third time I am travelling to the UK. There was such much talk about the Pendolino, the service and a whole lot of stuff about Virgin Trains that I thought I had missed out on quite a few (I was a frequent traveler to London by National Express coach service as it was way too economical) wonderful experiences.
So, my curiosity got the better of me and the unpredictable weather conditions in the UK over the last few weeks, I decided to travel to London by Virgin made my decision a lot easier. I finally bought my tickets to travel to London by train for the very first time (paying double the amount than it would cost for a coach travel).
The onward journey was good, except for the pain that I felt in my ears quite frequently during most part of the travel. I suppose that was to do with the great speeds that the Pendolino achieved. The Pendolino are supposed to be the fastest trains in the UK. Another reason could be the lack of the proper air circulation within the train. But, I enjoyed the travel nevertheless and was as happy as a kid who had just been given a mega candy.
After spending a couple of days with my friend at London, it was time to get back to base (Birmingham). I reached Euston station pretty early and after an hour of staring at the monster-sized information boards that displayed information about departures, I headed towards the platform still having pleasant memories of my travel the day before.
And alas, this is where I realised the hard facts. The train's display boards were not functioning and I had no clue where my coach was. Luckily for me, I saw a rail official and he directed me towards my coach. I got into the train and settled onto the seat allocated to me. But, the display above the seat read "This seat is available". I was shocked. Have I let go 18GBP down the drain? I then realised that I had boarded the wrong compartment after the display within the train came to life (albeit temporarily).
Many of the co-passengers were still wondering if they had boarded the right compartment as well!! So, I wasn’t the only one who was confused.
Thanking the railway employee for (mis)directing me, and then thanking heavens for saving my money, I moved to the correct compartment. But my happiness was short-lived. The display under the seat I had booked had the same message - "This seat is available". I looked around and found that all the displays had the same message. So assuming that there was some technical glitch, I settled nicely in my seat which was opposite to a girl who was very pretty (so you know the reason why I settled nicely).
I didn’t know that there was another surprise (not only for me, but to all the passengers) just a couple of minutes before the departure. There was an announcement in the public address system that the train was departing to Wolverhampton. Now, where is that place? I decided that I would travel in that train, whatever be the destination (reason - keep guessing).
Confusion and commotion prevailed for a few seconds as another announcement followed and this time the destination was Birmingham. The train started off from Euston and I had my fingers crossed hoping to reach Birmingham without any further twists to the travel. After a journey of 1.5 hours, the train pulled along onto the platform in Birmingham. The train was late by 10 mins, but I was happy that I had reached my destination.
And now, I feel relieved that I didn’t travel by Virgin on the last few occasions and realised that "penny saved is penny earned".
So, my curiosity got the better of me and the unpredictable weather conditions in the UK over the last few weeks, I decided to travel to London by Virgin made my decision a lot easier. I finally bought my tickets to travel to London by train for the very first time (paying double the amount than it would cost for a coach travel).
The onward journey was good, except for the pain that I felt in my ears quite frequently during most part of the travel. I suppose that was to do with the great speeds that the Pendolino achieved. The Pendolino are supposed to be the fastest trains in the UK. Another reason could be the lack of the proper air circulation within the train. But, I enjoyed the travel nevertheless and was as happy as a kid who had just been given a mega candy.
After spending a couple of days with my friend at London, it was time to get back to base (Birmingham). I reached Euston station pretty early and after an hour of staring at the monster-sized information boards that displayed information about departures, I headed towards the platform still having pleasant memories of my travel the day before.
And alas, this is where I realised the hard facts. The train's display boards were not functioning and I had no clue where my coach was. Luckily for me, I saw a rail official and he directed me towards my coach. I got into the train and settled onto the seat allocated to me. But, the display above the seat read "This seat is available". I was shocked. Have I let go 18GBP down the drain? I then realised that I had boarded the wrong compartment after the display within the train came to life (albeit temporarily).
Many of the co-passengers were still wondering if they had boarded the right compartment as well!! So, I wasn’t the only one who was confused.
Thanking the railway employee for (mis)directing me, and then thanking heavens for saving my money, I moved to the correct compartment. But my happiness was short-lived. The display under the seat I had booked had the same message - "This seat is available". I looked around and found that all the displays had the same message. So assuming that there was some technical glitch, I settled nicely in my seat which was opposite to a girl who was very pretty (so you know the reason why I settled nicely).
I didn’t know that there was another surprise (not only for me, but to all the passengers) just a couple of minutes before the departure. There was an announcement in the public address system that the train was departing to Wolverhampton. Now, where is that place? I decided that I would travel in that train, whatever be the destination (reason - keep guessing).
Confusion and commotion prevailed for a few seconds as another announcement followed and this time the destination was Birmingham. The train started off from Euston and I had my fingers crossed hoping to reach Birmingham without any further twists to the travel. After a journey of 1.5 hours, the train pulled along onto the platform in Birmingham. The train was late by 10 mins, but I was happy that I had reached my destination.
And now, I feel relieved that I didn’t travel by Virgin on the last few occasions and realised that "penny saved is penny earned".
posted by Kaushik R @ 14:50 IST
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