Virgin Trains First Class London Euston - Glasgow on the West Coast Mainline
 

This is my trip on Virgin Trains West Coast in First Class.
We made the 645 km long journey along the entire West Coast Main Line.
The train travels up to 200km/h. Our Virgin Trains No. VT1S58 just took 4 hours and 31 minutes.
VT are the letters of the train operator. "S" indicates Scotland as destination of the train.
Lounge access at London Euston, free drinks and free meals are included in the First Class rate, as well.
As usual, the train was pretty empty.
Overall I consider the service pretty solid. Stagecoach and Virgin Group are currently owning Virgin Train West Coast.
They have successfully won the franchise from the UK government to operate this service.

Video of the journey:




The journey started in London, where we have arrived on Swiss from Zurich at London City Airport:

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Canary Wharf:

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New Station of the soon opened Elizabeth Line:

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London Euston Station (main terminus for trains to the North on the West Coast Main Line, incl. Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow):

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Virgin First Class Lounge at London Euston Station (it's very basic and cannot be compared to the Clubhouse over at Heathrow):

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All the food that is available (yeah, it's feels like a US domestic lounge):

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Our train VT1S58 to Glasgow Central. Service is operated by a 9-car long Pendolino 390 016 "Virgin Champion" trainset (British Rail Class 390):

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Ready to go from Euston:

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Leaving the London proper:

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Empty First Class cabin:

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Network map of Virgin Trains West Coast and East Coast (Virgin Trains operates most long-distance routes in the UK):

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Frequent trolley service with free drinks (incl. alcoholic ones):

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Free cheap wine:

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Free tea:

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Free junk food (1st round):

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Free junk food (2nd round):

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Free junk food (3rd round):

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Toilet in the Pendolino train:

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Calling at Wigan North Western (right between Manchester and Liverpool):

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Calling at Preston:

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Another Pendolino train at Lancaster:

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West Coast Main Line in beautiful Cumbria:

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Meeting another Pendolino:

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Panorama through the window:

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Carlisle in Cumbria:

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The River Sark marks the border between England and Scotland (soon, this might become an international border + an EU external border):

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Crossing the Clyde River in Glasgow:

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Approaching Glasgow Central:

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Our Pendolino train at Glasgow:

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Arrived at beautiful Glasgow Central station:

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Glasgow Central station from the outside:

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Again, the full video on the journey:




Video Link:


All my trip reports on FT:

Airbus:

Iberia Airbus A340-600 London - Madrid in Y

Air Caraibes Airbus A350-900 Guadeloupe - Paris in Y

Empty Finnair Airbus A350-900 Helsinki - London Heathrow in Y+ and AY Lounge Sauna

Finnair Airbus A350-900 Helsinki - Shanghai in Y+

Finnair Airbus A350-900 Hong Kong - Helsinki in Y+

Singapore Airlines Airbus A380-800 Singapore - New Delhi in Upper Deck Y

British Airways Airbus A380-800 Singapore - London Heathrow in Y



Boeing:

Asiana Boeing 747-400 Combi Tokyo - Seoul in F

Air Canada Rouge Boeing 767-300ER Montreal - Cancun in Y+

Air Canada Rouge Boeing 767-300ER Cancun - Toronto in Y

United Boeing 777-200ER Houston - Newark - Amsterdam in C

United Boeing 777-200ER Amsterdam - Houston in Y+

United Boeing 777-200ER Singapore - Hongkong in C

British Airways Boeing 777-300ER London - Shanghai in Y

ANA Boeing 777-300ER Singapore - Tokyo in C

Swiss Boeing 777-300ER Zurich - Hong Kong in Y

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER Hong Kong - Singapore in Y

TUI Airlines Nederland Boeing 787-8 Sint Maarten - Curacao in P

TUI Airlines Nederland Boeing 787-8 Curacao - Amsterdam in P

Air Canada Boeing 787-8 Toronto - London in Y

ANA Boeing 787-8 Shanghai Pudong - Tokyo Narita in C

United Boeing 787-9 Los Angeles - Houston in C



Train:

CFR Calatori Bucharest - Istanbul Halkali in Sleeper Car

EuroNight Jan Kiepura Cologne - Warsaw in Sleeper Cabin

China High Speed Rail Shanghai - Xiamen in F

Caledonian Sleeper Train Inverness - London Euston in Sleeper Cabin

French TGV High Speed Train: Barcelona - Paris in F

China High Speed Rail Guangzhou - Shanghai Hongqiao in Y

Swiss Railways Lötschberg Mountain Line Bern - Brig in F

Ukraine Railways Kiev - Budapest in Sleeper Cabin

Virgin Trains West Coast London - Glasgow in F



Enjoy!

Thanks for posting.

How much was the ticket if you don't mind me asking?

If a banana and a sandwich are junk food, I don't know what you consider to be non-junk food.

If you go to the station and buy a 1st class ticket for travel on that day, it will cost you £244.50.

If you buy in advance from any UK train company or station, it can be as low as £55 if you specify the exact train you will take.

There are occasionally promotional fares available from Virgin Trains directly. The lowest I have ever paid was £30, earlier this year actually.

The carriage looked quite comfy and new unlike the last time I took an East Coast train down from Aberdeen - it should have been in an museum!

We paid GBP 51.50 per person for the First Class ticket+reservation London - Glasgow.

Nice photos. At that price, the first class does appear to be a steal! :-)

What is that THING by the window? It appears in all the photos of the outside scenery. I'm assuming that it cannot be removed!! :-(

Light fixture.

I loved reading this review as is brought back some nice memories. I have done this trip multiple times in the last few years to see family in Scotland. Train out of Euston is so much easier that going back to an airport.

My lowest priced fare was £50 and the most I've paid is £103 for a first class advanced ticket. The pricey one just wouldn't any lower, weeks out, it was just before Easter. Virgin service seems to be a bit luck of draw in terms of crew, however the crisps and chocolates to snack on helps the journey go by.