lol same! I swear the metros always have a problem. Once, they were delayed so i was late to an exam! damm jesmond ahah

It did and I was glad I'd just eaten my lunch

+When I Travel The World I was surprised the lamb was so nice to be honest. Usually train food is a bit hit and miss! Happy new year, almost time for a Virgin sale I hope....!

When I Travel The World Lincoln central - Peterborough should settle ya mate, 7:30 morning service and a single would be 11 quid first class

+MCMODMASTER MC I'm next in America in the summer, July. :-)

Actually the complimentary catering was launched by East Coast in 2011. Virgin can take credit for staff cutbacks making the catering service more of a lottery, but it was East Coast that launched the complimentary catering.

+supernumery This meal was actually very good, though that’s often the exception rather than the rule on VTEC.

+lewis canning You place an order and they'll cook to the order.

Paul's Trip Reports thank you great video btw 👍👌🏻

Yes it is. :-)

Alex Smith i know right the food is so nice on both virgin west and east coast, it one of the best operators in the country with first class on southern they put a piece of fabric on the seat if virgin took over southern they trains would be so much better and there would be no more strikes.

Different type of trains and franchise, I'm afraid. KGX-EDB or EUS-GLC are long-distance trains, Southern does virtually only commuter trains.

Virgin XC was a disaster. Operation Princess devastated the service and it never recovered. Virgin EC grossly and negligently overbid got the East Coast franchise, although there the blame is shared with the government.

Virgin XC was a disaster. Operation Princess devastated the service and it never recovered. Virgin EC grossly and negligently overbid got the East Coast franchise, although there the blame is shared with the government.

+Jon Brown Nope, you won't get over 125mph on any of our domestic trains. Eurostar isn't a bullet train but it does get to 186mph on a short stretch in Kent. This was a three hour trip.

Thanks, Paul.

Jon Brown were building a high speed line from london with a planned speed of 250mph

HS2 is being constructed from London-Birmingham (opening 2026) and eventually onto Manchester and Leeds (around 2032/33) by the Government to relieve pressure on the WCML and ECML by transferring many InterCity services via HS2, freeing up capacity for commuter services.

+Tom Bedwell 3hrs :-)

Bungle2010 thanks for that. I assumed that perhaps light snacks and drinks were free but the likes of a proper meal or alcohol drinks then you would have to pay extra.

+v1nce007 There are a few of those yes. See 3:08.

@TheRenaissanceman65 r/woooosh

+dbn52 The Queen has a private train and uses whichever station suits her schedule. But, once a year, she and her family go to Norfolk for Christmas. For that they usually use a public train specially reserved for her use. It goes from King's Cross, yes.

Google "open train times".

David Chapman Yes, those are reservation coupons :-)

London to the North. I wanted the curry but they couldn't offer it. So I had the 'Gourmet Scotch Egg', that was just what you get from the butcher's deli in my home village. It was a 11am train too. So you would think they would have proper lunch menu. I changed at Doncaster. i was just really disappointed, and the interior and seat were just pretty standard. I couldn't see where the '1st classness' was about. Compared to premium or first seating on Hull Trains (their rival), SNCF, Thalys, ICE and Eurostar. This really below par.

Pretty standard for a train seat I mean. It wasn't that big, and it just didn't feel as 'luxe' as other first classes I have been in. As for food. Eurostar, Thalys and ICE all offer a drink on entering and a 2 or 3 course meal. Not a picnic snack or a sandwich. The staff weren't great either and a bit abrupt. they gave me the glass of warm white after my scotch egg and as we were entering Grantham. Also the scotch egg is not a hot option. Mine wasn't. For Virgin to say how wonderful First Class is, I wasn't impressed.

You are wrong on Eurostar, ICE and Thalys. I didn't pay for food or drink on them. On Eurostar, yes you get an airline style 'tray', normally a starter, a main with a salad and some bread and a torte or cake. They have always come round with the offer of a glass of champagne after you leave gare du Nord or St Pancras. Once they just left the bottle on the table.

Virgin Trains East Coast doesn’t exist any more :-)

Paul's Trip Reports oh who owns it now

Paul's Trip Reports who was better then virgin trains or virgin trains east coast

419 Naija j

Virgin didn't buy them, the DfT did years ago, around the time East Coast started. The bi-mode units will be able to run on electric power at higher speeds as far as Edinburgh with greater power to make up from the extra weight in fuel, then change at Edinburgh and continue to Aberdeen/Inverness on diesel

Daniel Eyre There is a reason 1) The Environment 2) Efficiency. They can get a larger amount of power from OHLE to power their motors when in use between London and Edinburgh. Also, the Diesel engines just generate power for the same motors north of Edinburgh. What’s wasteful is driving 400 miles on a diesel train when there’s perfectly good OHLE available for it to use

Daniel Eyre I’m saying it’s less efficient as the amount of fuel used to power a DMU compared with the equivalent amount to generate the electricity used is hugely different. I’m not saying it’s wasting electricity, it is wasting diesel, creating more fumes and causing more damage to the atmosphere. Running bi-modes isn’t ideal, but it’s environmentally better. And if the Diesel engines are able to supply the same amount of power, then the 800s must be the fastest Diesel engines in the world.

Daniel Eyre First, stop being pedantic. Second, using diesel for 400 Miles when there is a cleaner electricity supply is available is logical. Having hundreds of small generators would require more fuel than one large one powering the electricity supply, because that’s how the economies of scale works. If the generators should be able to power the motors at the same voltage and current, then surely they should be able to go 140mph on diesel and have the same acceleration on diesel as they do on electric (which isn’t the case)

+Alasdair Clift _"the motors at the same voltage and current, then surely they should be able to go 140mph on diesel and have the same acceleration on diesel as they do on electric"- For fucks sakes!!! You actually *STILL* do not understand this *simple* concept! It's *THE GENERATORS* that are diesel, not the traction motors. The traction motors that actually propel the cars are *EXACTLY THE SAME* whether it's running from the overhead supply or from the Diesel generators. So they will have the *EXACT SAME* acceleration and running speed! What the Diesel generators do is *provide the electricity* for those motors. Did you even take science classes in secondary school?! And no i'm not being pedantic. The actual carbon footprint form using diesel for 400 miles (and can you at least try and use metric?) is *NEGLIGABLE*. It's not even worth considering. And not much if any higher than using electricity for that distance when you factor in line losses etc. And your claim about "Economy of scale" is utter nonsense, "economies of scale" are something in manufacturing not in engines. It has absolutely no effect on efficiency whether you use a lot of small generators or one large generator. What counts is the efficiency of the individual generator, and these generators fitted to these units will be state-of-the-art. The fact remains that running from the overhead will likely to be from fossil fuels, from older and less efficient generators and be subjected to considerable losses from transmission and distribution and transformers. An then there's the fact you keep running away from that its also dragging another ~2 tonnes of redundant weight per axle. That's like another 25 passengers per axle! Give it up. You demonstrably have no remote clue what you're talking about.

tigas22 Yeah it is very catchy, hopefully Paul will tell us :)

Mulle - Freedom`!

+Ron Shapley It is there... :-)

Abdullah Alami Not in First Class no.

+Sonia wicks Yes they are. No alcohol free though!

Paul's Trip Reports..... That's brilliant, mum's diabetic and has dementia do I need to refuel her alot 😂 😂 😂 thanks Paul

ANDREW SPENCE that's personal opinion. train travel allows you to be directly inside the city centre and not have to get a train or bus back into the city. plus many places don't have an airport in the uk. on top of all of this, look at the investment Virgin has but into refurbishing these trains even though they are being replaced next year. Regardless of the operator private or not the ticket price will be the same that's set by the department for transport not the operator. also prices are more likely to increase due to no stake holders funding. Furthermore SCNF and many government ran train are heavily subsidised so private is actually better.

Whether private or state owned is better is up for debate, but I wouldn't take SNCF as an example for their service standards, on the contrary. Their TGVs are slick, but the food is nothing to brag about and terribly expensive (also for first!). Many lines don't have half the frequency you'd expect on a similar line in the UK. From a railway perspective, I prefer DB over SNCF for almost everything, even with DB slumping these last few years. They have a more holistic approach on trains and public transport, and second (standard) class is better IMO. Food on ICE isn't particularly great, but still a lot better than their French counterparts.

Not sure what your intention is. To claim SNCF's food is better? I didn't claim food on Virgin is fantastic, but it's generally good enough. Food on TGV (which isn't free, not even for first class, if you didn't know) is overpriced and adequate at best, with the exception of their croissants. But I don't want to east croissants all day... To say they are better food-wise is just laughable.

SNCF's food is shockingly mediocre, considering that it's France. You would think if anyone is going to take pride in their train food it would be the French. I remember taking a (non-high speed) train between Paris and Brussels in the late 80s and the dining car cuisine was not cheap, but it was excellent. But nowadays even the Germans and the Austrians beat the French as far as train catering goes. At least it's pretty easy to buy good bread, cheese, charcuterie, and wine at or near most major French train stations and take it with you.

Well done gt western, Perhaps virgin and sth west trains could do the same.With the prices they charge they can afford it.I travelled on sth west trains 1st class once...for all the extra I paid I got a blind for the window, blue seat instead of red..and a greasy bit of towel on the seat back...Truly first class..

South West Trains (now South Western Railway) operate mainly commuter services so first class doesn't need to be much. They can't afford to offer restaurant style services on VTEC because almost all fare money gets paid to the DfT for Network Rail operating costs, leaving VTEC with little or no profit, as we've seen

I thought it was only on Sundays they didn't serve hot food? However, first class can be a lot cheaper, too, then. I once travelled for £15 extra or so from Carlisle to Manchester, decided on the train.

So you get the same as in a TGV, with the difference that, in France, you have to pay extra?

I'm not a big fan of privatisation myself, although I do think it's not all bad. However, if SNCF costs less to the traveler, it's because it costs more to the taxpayer, British railways get subsidies as well, but not as much as SNCF. For a lot less trains, I'd add. You could get ticket prices down, and I'm in favour of that, but it would mean higher subsidies. But it would also mean higher subsidies when it would have been a nationalised British Rail. I'm not such a fan of TGV, yes, it's fast, and if you need to go from Paris to Marseille, it's wonderful, but in turn the French have neglected their underlying regional network. That network is in terrible shape, and lines are still closing. A couple of years back, it was Chalons-en-Champagne-Verdun. To add insult to injury, they closed it just before the centennial of the start of WWI... Meanwhile, Britain is investing in its railways. Lines are reopened, rolling stock ordered... Only a new HS2 is having a hard time getting a get-go. You could take some pages from the French book and learn from it, but I would suggest you don't copy the whole book.

+supernumery And yet, the UK has some of Europe's most impressive growth numbers in railway passengers, and even freight. In the meantime, SNCF is still loosing freight in spite of being directly connected to all of its neighbours unlike the UK, all limited growth there comes from private companies, and passenger numbers are lagging behind. Of course I'm not saying there's nothing going well in France, or everything is roses and sunshine in the UK. As you said, prices are extremely high, there's still overcrowding, etc. But I'm not convinced privatisation is the only thing to blame, there. A country that went even further in privatisation, Sweden (all regional trains are tendered out, but national trains are all open access, with different companies directly competing with each other, but also buses and even planes) has high prices, but they are pretty much according to their living standard. Switzerland has similar high prices, but no privatisation. But if the UK pays a lot of subsidies for rail, it's partly also because there have been some massive investments in new infrastructure, new stations, reopened lines, etc. Which is why I think it's too simple to think that when the UK renationalises, everything will be fine again. Without the persistent attention of a considerate government, you might very well create new problems while trying to re-mediate current ones. If renationalisation is part of a bigger program, I can get behind it, but not if it's just a slogan, as I'm afraid it is with the current Labour program.

+supernumery And I agree that's bullshit. No system is without its flaws and risks, and those who think there's a simple solution to any problem are delusional. However, I feel you might see renationalisation as such a panacea as well. I can assure you, it isn't. Not as such. You might make it work, but from my experience in the Belgian railways, having political overlords isn't living the dream either, they have a change of mind in a whim, cut your subsidies because there's a shortfall, etc. If you want to make it work with a government owned company, you need a strong mandate from the people and a guaranteed stability for investments. The Swiss seem to do it just right, as are the Austrians on most things, I must admit, so it is not impossible. There's still quite some investment needed, and lets not forget there are quite some 'German and Dutch asset strippers' who didn't make a lot of money on it, even loosing money sometimes. That's the risk of the game, of course, but most British franchises are not cash machines for the operators, even when they don't make a loss.

Brexit won't stop you loving England Wolgang... And you're still welcome to come ride our trains anytime 🇬🇧❤️🇩🇪

@@peterashcroft8058 No won`t stop loving england !! Stop BREXIT !!!!!

It’s a few years old, before I changed my style.