Virgin Trains East Coast stands at risk of letting standards slip

Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC) is having a rough time. While Twitter cannot be considered a definitive news source, there are too many tweets complaining about on-board service to be ignored.

Those tweets suggest that refreshment trolleys run too rarely in Sandard Class. First Class passengers complain that hot food is absent. There’s a feeling that there are insufficient on-board staff to provide the service that VTEC promises.

VTEC also appears to have insufficient stock for its timetable. It drafted in a Class 90 some time ago to maintain its electric services that are usually in the hands of faster Class 91s. Yet there’s still disruption and delayed passengers, with trains in depots for maintenance.

I witnessed this on August 31 when catching the 1930 from King’s Cross. Departure boards and announcements claimed the delay to this train was the result of inward stock running late. In fact, the stock that ran into Platform 1 that evening to form the 1930 arrived three minutes early… at 1932. The real reason the 1930 left at 1955 was a shortage of stock, as the guard on the train announced but station announcements did not.

VTEC has also revamped its website, with features that were previously available no longer present, according to blogger Save East Coast Rewards. Users found they could not modify existing bookings made on the old website, and new site tickets could only be changed by booking a new one and then asking for a refund for the old. Cyclists found they could no longer book their bikes onto trains.

VTEC continues to run fast and frequent trains. It has some of the best crews I’ve ever seen. Yet I’m left with a feeling that quality is crumbling. I sincerely hope it doesn’t follow the depressing path that National Express East Coast took a decade ago, when it found its financial burden growing.