VTWC strike travel disruption info/advice

[All Line Rover]

For information less dependent on subjective experience, I would refer to this: http://d3cez36w5wymxj.cloudfront.ne...Survey-–-NRPS-–-Spring-2017-–-Main-report.pdf.

I can't be bothered to type the figures out, but Virgin WC and EC (and other TOCs) score notably better than XC on such matters as 'Upkeep and repair of the train' and 'Cleanliness of the inside'.

 

[47271]

Oi, what's any of this about the condition of Voyagers got to do with us coping with the strike this week?

I'd like to get a refund on my ticket for Friday per my earlier post. Can anyone tell me if it's true that I have to phone them to achieve that?

 

[All Line Rover]

You don't need to phone them. Assuming you do not have an Advance ticket for a service that is not expected to be disrupted, you need to return your ticket to whomever you purchased it from and, if this necessitates sending the ticket by post, enclosing a note stating e.g. "ABANDONED JOURNEY DUE TO STRIKE ACTION - ADMIN FEE NOT APPLICABLE" to ensure that an admin fee is not deducted from your refund.

 

[47271]

You don't need to phone them. Assuming you do not have an Advance ticket for a service that is not expected to be disrupted, you need to return your ticket to whomever you purchased it from and, if this necessitates sending the ticket by post, enclosing a note stating e.g. "ABANDONED JOURNEY DUE TO STRIKE ACTION - ADMIN FEE NOT APPLICABLE" to ensure that an admin fee is not deducted from your refund.

Thank you, I'll do that. My service is more than disrupted, it no longer exists. On that basis I suppose I could just make regular Delay Repay claim as I would for a more random cancellation?

 

[All Line Rover]

My service is more than disrupted, it no longer exists. On that basis I suppose I could just make regular Delay Repay claim as I would for a more random cancellation?

No, Delay Repay is for journeys undertaken, paid by the TOC which caused the delay. Abandoned journeys must be refunded by the ticket seller.

Confusing, I know. It would be easier (for passengers) if the ticket seller was responsible for everything.

 

[matt]

Strike has been called off.

 

[LeylandLen]

Yes tomorrows strike has been called , but nothing on Virgins website about subsequent days.
It says ....

"Friday 22nd December – industrial action is called off. We are planning to run a full timetable, but there may be some cancellations due to last-minute staff rota changes. We still recommend you travel earlier if possible as we are expecting services to be busier. Find out more here https://www.virgintrains.co.uk/strike"

 

[a_c_skinner]

From their press pages just now (good news I think):

Virgin Trains has confirmed that industrial action affecting its services on west coast on 22 December 2017 and 5, 8, 26, 29 January 2018 has been called off and that it is planning to run a full timetable on Friday 22 December.

Phil Whittingham, Managing Director for Virgin Trains on the west coast, said: “We’re pleased that we’ve come to an agreement with the RMT and TSSA unions, and can focus on providing the best possible service to our customers. We’ll do everything we can to run a full service on Friday 22 December, but because the strike has been called off at the last-minute there may be some cancellations. We’ll be working hard to make sure our customers can make it home as quickly and easily as possible for Christmas.”

Virgin Trains recommends customers still check their journey before they travel. This is because the rosters put in place for tomorrow cover roles not affected by this action and will have to be completely re-drawn. The revised timetable will not be live on Virgin Trains website until the early hours of Friday morning.

 

[Welshman]

As for a lack of cheap Advance fares, the walk-up fares betweeen North Wales stations and London are exceptional value for money and the evening 'peak' Voyagers from London to those stations are full. If Virgin applied the Chester / Manchester / Liverpool / Birmingham peak restrictions to tickets from North Wales stations, then they might introduce cheaper (but not 'cheap'!) Advance fares.

1. Those peak Voyagers out of Euston empty considerably after Milton Keynes and Nuneaton - not everyone using them is going to Chester or North Wales. Its infuriating to have to stand for the first 30 mins/1 hour or so while seats are taken by shorter-distance commuters.

2. As for the old complaint about the more relaxed peak-hour conditions for tickets to North Wales trains, remember that whereas Manchester and Birmingham have 3 trains per hour and Liverpool an hourly service, North Wales has 6 per day! If the same peak restrictions applied to them, it would leave only the 0910 and 1910 that off-peak ticket holders could use!

Now, back to the topic........

 

[All Line Rover]

No passengers alight the 17.10 or 18.10 at Milton Keynes, which is pick-up-only.

And I don't consider passengers for Nuneaton to be less deserving of a seat - if anything they are likely to be paying more than North Wales passengers, despite the shorter journey. The same goes for Crewe and Chester passengers.

 

[Welshman]

No passengers alight the 17.10 or 18.10 at Milton Keynes, which is pick-up-only.

And I don't consider passengers for Nuneaton to be less deserving of a seat - if anything they are likely to be paying more than North Wales passengers, despite the shorter journey. The same goes for Crewe and Chester passengers.

I wouldn't dare suggest some passengers are more "deserving " of a seat than others!

 

[xtradj]

Didn’t expect this to be fair. Glad all seems to be sorted

Or is it just tomorrow called off? Can anyone confirm if the future dates have also been cancelled. Thanks

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

 

[footprints]

Didn’t expect this to be fair. Glad all seems to be sorted

Or is it just tomorrow called off? Can anyone confirm if the future dates have also been cancelled. Thanks

All planned dates have been called off.

 

[Optimo]

NB. Seat reservations appear not to be available on the now reinstated 'normal' services, even if you had reservations previously, re-booked on the 'revised' services, then are bumped back onto normal service. Still disruptive, while not 'striking'.