Yahoo Finance Virgin season ticket means I can reserve a seat, so why am I forced to stand?
I pay almost £8,000 a year and don’t understand how a train operator can be so incompetent
I hold an annual rail season ticket from Spalding to London (via Peterborough) with Virgin Trains East Coast. Last year this cost £7,816, excluding underground travel. In theory, season ticket holders can reserve seats up to 12 weeks in advance, for which they fill in a spreadsheet and send to Virgin. However, this department appears to be only available via email. It is supposed to respond to requests within seven days, but sometimes I’ve had to chase it for up to a month. When someone responds, they simply say the train I reserved was full and to take a different one, which is not convenient.
For the last month my reservation was marked as from Newark rather than Peterborough – two stops before I get on. This has meant that almost every day I end up standing.
I called customer services, which told me to contact the online services team, which told me to call customer services. I even joined Twitter to try and get an answer, but all they could do was advise me to find the train guard to reclaim my seat. However, there isn’t a guard to be seen, partly because there are so many people standing it’s impossible to pass through. I have also visited the travel centre at King’s Cross, which advised me that a manager would be in contact, but weeks later I’ve heard nothing.
I do not understand how an operator can be so incompetent and unaccountable while charging so much. SK, Spalding, Lincolnshire
It is shocking that you pay nearly £8,000 a year for a regular commute, only to be forced to stand – and your tale reflects high levels of dissatisfaction across the country. When we checked with passenger group Transport Focus to find out what practice is across all rail operators, we (and it!) were surprised by the differing policies.
The vast majority (with the exception of East Midlands) accept season ticket reservations, although you cannot reserve places on many busy suburban commuter journeys. Operators such as Greater Anglia and Virgin Trains West Coast, meanwhile, only accept bookings a week at a time. We’ve even heard of cases of operators charging season ticket holders for reservations, which adds insult to injury.
You have since received an apology from Virgin and the rather ambiguous offer of a pair of free tickets to travel anywhere on its eastern network. Not very appealing if it’s your usual train journey to work.
A spokesperson said: “We are sorry SK has struggled to get a seat reservation. We are looking into our processes and how we can improve them, but unfortunately some of our trains are extremely popular and it might be difficult to reserve a seat at peak times.”
Surely this is an area crying out for reform.
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