Strains
to get a twenty-year franchise while either ignorant or in blatant disregard of the rules (and running those cramped, claustrophobic, toilet-smelling trains on the “West Coast Main Line”)
Virgin Trains Finally Admits they are in the Wrong after Over Seven Months Virgin Trains may be brutal in enforcing the rules of ticket validity when an old lady has made a mistake after being given misleading information (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8223262.stm), but it's different when they are bang to rights after cheating and humiliating an individual with a valid ticket, and when the rules concerned are the National Rail Conditions of Carriage (NRCoC) which govern the franchise for which they are hoping to get a twenty-year extension. Instead of admitting their mistake after a ten-minute glance at the NRCoC, Virgin Trains lied, obfuscated and stonewalled for seven months, and then finally admitted that they were in the wrong, offered some complimentary tickets in compensation and claimed that what had gone on before had been "in good faith". Well, there was no good faith. There was just a large, unaccountable corporation, typical of the privatised railway, believing that they could victimise individuals and get away with anything. Have you been Forced to Buy an Extra Ticket by Virgin Staff at Euston or Elsewhere? The chances are that station staff are entirely ignorant about ticket validity and will be supported in anything they do by Customer Services staff who will tell blatant lies. Only publicity will prevent this sort of behaviour from extending into the twenty-year franchise that Virgin wants. If you have any stories of being refused travel with a valid ticket, please let us know via our Contact page. Virgin Can Keep Their Complimentary Tickets After seven months of lies, obfuscation and then silence, this is far too little, far too late. What about a consultancy fee for teaching Virgin Trains about the National Rail Conditions of Carriage, of which they were previously either ignorant or else in blatant disregard? Either way, their refusal to accept the rules makes them incompetent to run a National Rail franchise. Messages to Virgin To the Staff at Euston Station Your behaviour will not be forgotten. You laughed and sneered as you abused your power over a "customer" who you knew had a valid ticket. You made a slanderous public accusation of fare-evasion. Well, you picked on the wrong victim on that day. Let's hope that others will now stand up to you. To the Customer Services Staff on the Telephone You lied, lied and lied again. Your lies weren't even consistent. You conferred during and between calls and established a false story, and then switched as you were caught out. You claimed that rules exist which do not exist. You claimed that information appeared on websites which does not appear on websites (and wouldn't do, because it wasn't true). You claimed that Virgin can opt out of the National Rail Conditions of Carriage, but without telling the customer which rules it has opted out of. You claimed that a ticket stored on a smartcard was like a ticket printed on tissue paper. To Those who Corresponded in Writing Michael Saunders, Customer Relations: you claimed in writing that a travelcard season ticket is not valid (in combination) in Virgin services between London and Milton Keynes (false; see NRCoC). You also claimed that information appeared on websites where no such information appears. Did you really think that no one would check? Alan Robey, Chief Executive's Office: you tried to fob off an MP with information about the London Pay As You Go scheme which, as you know, had absolutely nothing to do with the issue of extending a National Rail season ticket. Unfortunately, the MP was initially fobbed off, but you have since had to admit that you are in the wrong. Sarah Brassington, Customer Relations: you stated in writing, after a very long delay, that Virgin does not accept travelcard season tickets when they are stored on Oyster. This was a written admission that Virgin is in breach of the NRCoC. Your letter alone is sufficient cause for legal action against Virgin. These written statements, all after very long delays (when a check of the rules would take ten minutes), rule out any possibility of "good faith". They might well be considered to be systematic fraud, and legal action is still under consideration. To Those who Sent Anonymous Abusive Messages via this Site If the source of your messages can be traced, they could land your employer in trouble. It may be difficult to prove, but one has to wonder who on earth would bother if they didn't have a vested interest. Be Careful of London Midland's Smartcard Season Ticket Pilot How is Virgin likely to respond when people have London Midland-issued season tickets stored on smartcards, which are valid on Virgin services in conjunction with extensions as appropriate? The contentious issue was the combination of a London zonal season ticket with an extension ticket, where the season ticket was stored electronically on an Oyster card. Hundreds of thousands of people have season tickets stored this way, since London Underground doesn’t issue them any other way. Transport for London positively encourages people to store their season tickets this way, stating that they have exactly the same validity as the equivalent paper tickets. The National Rail Conditions of Carriage confirm this. Virgin, however, can’t be bothered to issue its staff with readers to check Oyster cards (like other operators in London do). Because Virgin can’t be bothered to check that the card contains a valid season ticket, a passenger in possession of an extension ticket was accused of fare-evasion and denied travel. Virgin Customer Services staff implied that having a season ticket on a smartcard was equivalent to having a ticket printed on tissue paper, and denied that Virgin has to accept smartcard season tickets in combination with extensions. Everyone Consulted, Except Virgin, Supported the Customer Support was received from · Public Affairs Manager, Transport for London · Deputy Chair of Greater London Assembly Transport Committee · Several members of Greater London Assembly · Association of Train Operating Companies · London Travelwatch Unfortunately, this had absolutely no effect on Virgin Trains for over seven months. Is There Some Political Game Going on? It may be that there is an ongoing dispute between Train Operating Companies (TOCs) and Transport for London (TfL) about the format of smartcards. TfL's Oyster card may not be compliant with the standards that the TOCs will have to apply for future smartcard systems. However, this is not the fault of the passenger, and the Conditions of Carriage clearly showed Virgin to be in the wrong. See the Timeline and Correspondence pages for full details of how Virgin delayed their response, repeatedly changed their story and made fraudulent statements about ticket validity. Nothing to do With Pay As You Go It is important to understand that this has nothing to do with Transport for London’s Pay As You Go scheme. National Rail operators are obliged to accept travelcard season tickets which are stored on Oyster. There are hundreds of locations around London where Pay As You Go is not valid, but National Rail staff have readers with which they can confirm that a passenger has a valid season ticket. A London travelcard is a National Rail ticket. It would cost nothing for Virgin to make use of thousands of spare readers formerly used by bus conductors.

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