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Travelled earlier on an 'Evening Meal service', and the options were either the rather nice Vegetable Curry or the Pie and Mash. Dessert options were a small cheesecake or cheese and biscuits. The rotation changes over on Wednesdays, so it may be a new offering from tomorrow. At least...

The key issue I have with the manual ticket gate at New St and the automatic ones installed at various EMT stations in the Midlands, is that they are left permanently open every day from a certain early time I won't mention in the evening. This defies the principle of having the gates in the...

The key problem with that Scotland-Birmingham service is that a lot of people change at Wolves onto the xx41 Bournemouth service. Usually a 10 min connection, but based on my limited experience, if the VT is a few minutes late from Crewe, it runs behind the CrossCountry service all the way to...

With London Midland having installed automatic ticket gates at a number of stations in the West Midlands, the current operation of manual checks is woefully inadequate. They appear to leave at about 19:00, making it a free-for-all after that as checks are so rare on expresses in the West...

A few weeks ago, VT cleverly decided to bring in their own "Virgin Trains only" fares on the busy Rugby-Wolverhampton corridor, which are significantly cheaper than the "Any Permitted" fares on the route. I was on a LM service on Fri on a short journey to Birmingham International and...

It is a bit of a shambles, I'm glad I don't use the station on a daily basis. Even the AM peak trains to London depart from plat 2. Will explain why the FC Lounge is virtually always empty, as VT refuse to allow CrossCountry FC ticket holders entry and the only VT on plat 4 tends to be the...

I've made a few journeys between Euston and Birmingham during the past week, on services that were previously run by the silver loco-hauled refurbished train. A VT TM later told me that the loco-hauled train is no longer in service anymore on the West Midlands route (apart from on the single...

I also noticed the change of menu earlier. Travelled to Wolverhampton earlier with a new Light Bites menu [1]. Selection was far better than the grotesque offerings of late. Returned to Euston on a so-called Evening Meal service. Reasonable portion of Vegetable Curry, but still not as good...

Must be the infamous recovery time that Virgin add between the last two stops on their service. That said, since the VHF added recovery time is far more acceptable than before, with only a few minutes extra added (e.g. the xx45 Wolves to Euston is timetable to take 20 minutes from Watford to...

That's interesting, an inside job. My friend was on the on time 16:09 service from New St on Monday, which was 90 late into Nuneaton. All subsequent trains were cancelled or bustituted. The vandals seem to have a habit of doing their dirty work in the early afternoon on each occasion...

Apologies if this is slightly off topic. I've booked some rail journeys in South Africa next May prior to the World Cup - the Blue Train from Pretoria to Cape Town and the Rovos Rail from Victoria Falls to Pretoria. Been to SA a few times but never travelled on this trains before. Would...

A friend tells me that he has endured a horrific week on the Nuneaton - Birmingham New St line. For three consecutive days, vandals have stolen copper signalling cables at the same location just north of Nuneaton, resulting in no Cross Country trains being able to run, and buses being laid on...

I was told this from on a First Class host earlier. Apparently, Virgin Trains want to cut about 70 catering positions, and the 700 or so catering staff are now set to strike after a ballot result. Compared to other long distance operators, the Pendolinos at least have plenty of, perhaps...

Travelled on the 10:20 last week. Despite it being a Pendolino, only the (sub)standard Voyager First Class breakfast was offered, as this and the 06:17 have no chef on board (the chef from Euston gets off at New St). That said, it was a great change to the overcrowded Voyager First, and all 4...

That's great Tony, thanks for that tip. If I do travel, I'll follow your suggestion and purchase those tickets from Edinburgh tomorrow.

I may need to travel from Edinburgh to Birmingham tomorrow, but won't find out for sure until the morning so no point in booking an FC AP ticket. Since the journey times are an hour quicker, I'll probably go via the WCML. The First Class single is £201. Just had a quick look online and I...

I may be travelling from Edinburgh to Birmingham tomorrow afternoon. Can anyone provide details on which Virgin services via the WCML are operated by Pendolinos, if indeed they still are? I will probably travel on the 16:52 service. Many thanks.

I had a similar problem with I travelled Leisure Select a month ago. I've seen advertising in the media where companies offer free upgrades to Leisure Select. I now travel Business First, which also has the added advantage of the First Lounge access at both Waterloo and Gare du Nord.

As far as I'm aware, Cross Country have no FC Advance fares on their ex-Central routes with First Class. I routinely have to pay the full FC fare on the Birmingham-Stansted route. At off peak times and weekends, FC is virtually guaranteed to be empty apart from off duty rail staff and those...

I travelled on a CrossCountry Voyager earlier today and the First Class host told me that Bombardier say that only 3 trains are left with a Shop on board. The rest have been reconfigured with an on-board trolley service providing catering. What are people's expereicnes of the new on board...