Virgin Trains TM said 'change at Wigan for Chester'

[Smelly_Diesel]

:roll:. On my way back from Blackpool North and boarded the very slightly delayed 11:52am @ Preston to London Euston to travel to Warrington BQ for my connection back to Chester. As the train left Preston, the TM announced Wigan NW as next stop and instructed passengers to alight for connections to Manchester, Liverpool and CHESTER?!?! Now, I appreciate you CAN get to Chester Via Liverpool LS and then Lime Street Merseyrail but if someone with no knowledge of the fact that LLS would query why you had tried to use your ticket which had not been routed Via LLS and the subsequent penalty fares (!). Would Virgin Trains or specifically the TM pay any said fares charged retrospectively?

 

[MCR247]

I'm sure it was just a mistake. Or maybe you misheard Manchester? Not the end of the world though

 

[Smelly_Diesel]

Once is a mistake indeed but the TM made the wrong announcement twice with his misinformation. And I did not miss-hear the Manchester announcement! After all, you can get to Manchester from Wigan NW via 2 lines, 1 Via Bolton no less. So maybe not the end of the world to you...:roll:

 

[AlterEgo]

Perhaps he had it written down wrongly.

 

[Smelly_Diesel]

Call me a pedant but isn't he being paid enough to write the right info down for passengers?:roll:

 

[MidnightFlyer]

I have been on thousands of Virgin Trains services and listened to god only knows how many connection announcements, and every last one of those has been without fault. What their wage is is neither here nor there; everybody makes mistakes and for all we know that could have been the first time they have ever made such an statement. If I was onboard I would probably have had an inquisitive word with the guard, or in retrospect dropped them an email about it. Of all the things a guard could get wrong, this is thankfully rather minor!

 

[Saint66]

Call me a pedant but isn't he being paid enough to write the right info down for passengers?:roll:

Did you speak to the TM and try and point out his error?

 

[bb21]

So maybe not the end of the world to you...:roll:

WTF?

Call me a pedant but isn't he being paid enough to write the right info down for passengers?:roll:

No. (Note - this is not a serious answer to your not so serious question.)

If it really is such a big deal for you (since you rolled your eyes three times in quick succession to express your displeasure), I hope you spoke to him to point out his error so that it can be rectified asap to the benefit of all the passengers.

Storm in a teacup. He probably made a mistake. Move on.

 

[yorkie]

...LLS would query why you had tried to use your ticket which had not been routed Via LLS and the subsequent penalty fares (!)....

There are several flaws with this post.

A Penalty Fare can not be issued for simply being 'off route' and, in any case, Liverpool Lime Street [LIV] is going to be on a permitted route for almost any conceivable fare for which someone may be using to undertake such a journey between (beyond) Wigan and Chester and who may be in any doubt on where to change trains.

We all make mistakes, for example LLS is Llanishen, not Liverpool Lime Street