Arriving at Wolverhampton to travel to London, the first service south was an Arriva Cross Country which I decided to board, intending to change at Birmingham to a Virgin Birmingham - Euston train. I was a bit surprised to find an HS125 working the Arriva train. The set had been quite nicely refurbished recently and the short journey to Birmingham reminded me how much better the elderley HS125 is from the customer's point of view compared with the modern 'Voyagers'. There's more space in the cabin, the sound insulation is better and I found the ride quality better. Back to the future?
I know that some Virgin services manage to run to time but I don't often manage to catch those particular trains. This trip was no exception. The Virgin train I hoped to catch was already in the platform at Birmingham - not the expected 'Pendolino' but the previous-generation push-pull arrangement with an electric locomotive on the back and Driving Van Trailer 82101 on the front.
Part of the train was in the old Virgin livery of red with black horizontal lines but a number of coaches were in the British Rail blue and grey livery which I've not seen for a long time. All the coaches were very run-down internally and I was reminded of the way British Rail used to use all sorts of nondescript stock on Football Specials, half expecting it to be vandalised.
Although there were a number of passengers already on board, quite a few were hanging around on the platform, suggesting some sort of problem. It transpired that there was a fault on the Central Door locking system. I'm not quite sure why such a fundamental flaw was not dealt with before passengers boarded. Needless to say, the Passenger Information Displays were confidently predicting an 'On Time' departure. Walking along the platform, I found a number of doors festooned with yellow tape and a few staff apparently investigating the problems. As departure time approached, I asked various platform staff whether the departure would be delayed but they all were equally unaware of what was likely to happen. Long after departure time, the displays insisted that the train was 'On Time'.
As usual, passengers were left to their own devices but increasing numbers concluded that the subsequent Wolverhampton - Euston Virgin service was a better bet. I think a 'live' public address announcement was made at one point, but I've no idea what was said because of the noise of a number of diesel trains in the vicinity. In general, the pre-recorded announcements at New Street are fairly audible but 'live' announcements seem much less satisfactory. It irks me that apologies for late running and cancellations (there's quite a lot of both) are given by a sincere-sounding pre-recorded message. It's difficult to take comfort from a pre-recorded message starting "I'm sorry..." when, having paid an eye-watering sum for the opportunity to travel, plans for the day are smashed by the casual incompetence of our transport system.
The picture below shows the London-bound 'Pendolino' which I eventually caught arriving at New Street. In the background, you can see the E.W.S. electric locomotive at the rear of the ill-starred push and pull I'd initially boarded. I've no idea what happened to the failed train - when I returned through New Street the same evening it had departed, perhaps to some convenient breaker's yard.
