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.
Source: Guardian Transport
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