i`ve watched hundreds of trip reports, air and rail, and paul has got this off to a tee. informative, great quality video, just brilliant. well done m8. keep it going, its a pleasure to watch
My oh my.. Bham New Street is looking good now. Had the opportunity to come back there in 2013, it was a messy ground, renovations everywhere. Kinda missed the place, a place i called home during mid 90s, anyway good video Paul, learnt something I didn’t know about history of Bham railways. Awesome!
Very well edited video compared to endless train travels I have seen in US Amtrak, people need to know how to edit their trips down unless something interesting to see. Hope our new Acelas in 2021 (?) are as fast, this time they will have the tilt engineered correctly...LOL Acela 1st class is great Boston to Washington DC. California trains are great especially Coast Starlight from LA to Seattle, go 1st class, sleeper and private dining car and common glass dome car /bar.
this brought me back to 2013, when i went on a class 166 DMU to Birmingham new street then my first ever Pendolino 390/1 ride to Preston. in 4 days i'm going on a CrossCountry service from reading to Wolverhampton, then a virgin west service to Glasgow central via Preston where we see some of my family. keep up the great videos man - new sub!
Interesting at 3:22- not a gimmick at all. Used to be that all the cutlery and china would rattle incessantly during the journey and it was really annoying. Glad they redesigned it.
I've been on First Class on Virgin Trains too from London Euston to Birmingham New Street... I feel like the journey is too short to fully enjoy it though, maybe if you're going to Manchester or farther afield - it would be better. Great video, btw
I used Virgin West Coast for the first time last week, going from Euston to Edinburgh on the Pendolino, standard class but at £14 each way it was too good to refuse. I really enjoyed my journey but also enjoyed watching this, very informative. I hope to do a First Class journey to Glasgow or Inverness one day.
Fantastic video. one of the reasons why I love to visit the UK are the amazing rail service. On my last to the London, I took the same route. On the way up we stopped in Milton Keynes but on the return south we stopped in Rugby and did not stopped in Milton Keynes.
I did Crewe to Edinburgh 1st class about the same time you filmed this. Really enjoyed it and as a lorry driver train is the best way to travel, Put your feet up and watch the world wiz by. Good video by the way. I did one for my trip but its not as good as yours.
A slight correction here, a nine carriage length Pendolino is a Class 390/0 whilst an eleven carriage length Pendolino is a Class 390/1. Also on London Euston - West Midlands services which offer breakfast in First Class, cereal is available from the First Class Lounge at London Euston.
Just like very old times there for you there . Reserved system has been very, very problematic since an upgrade was done to push through next service reservations / allow the control to 'swap units' etc - the whole system just crashes now. Should have given us nod whilst you up in Brum also - would have been good to catch up
Great Trip Paul. and thanks for the information. Only problem was it was only on screen for a short time and I could not read it all. Please hold your text on screen a few seconds longer. But other then that,,, a great trip. Thanks Darren in Australia.
It's also why they are so durable. Remember that derail one had up in Scotland several years back? The whole train derailed and flipped over at 90MPH and only one person died out of all the passengers. If that's not impressive I don't know what is and it's due to the extremely rigid construction.
Great video! :) I take the Pendolino's alot on the Westcoast Mainline and usually manage to cotton on cheap first class tickets. It's a shame they aren't cleaned properly the majority of the time, if i paid the standard going rates i'd be appauled but i've never had problems with the staff, they've always been friendly. It's a much better first-class than London Midland at least! (Complete waist of money, the only difference is a reclining seat haha). You should check out Abellio Greater Anglia's service from Liverpool Street to Norwich, the train's are older but the first class is pretty great! (Much better food selection than Virgin,though you don't get waited on)
+Alex Eden Abellio don't have a better food selection than Virgin! They haven't had hot food in First for several years. See: www.abelliogreateranglia.co.uk/travel-information/your-journey/catering Virgin serve hot food at breakfast and dinner (and on Glasgow-London routes too).
It's pretty awesome. The signalling maps are continuously expanding. It's kind of like FR24 for trains I guess. Some maps even include the current signal aspects (proceed/danger only) on the diagrams.
You know so much about planes, trains and the areas in which you travel. Do you study beforehand or were you a travel geek as a kid. I would guess you still are. I don’t think being a geek is a bad thing, everyone has a geek side even if they deny it. Oh, I really like your videos especially the food parts. I guess I’m a food geek.
"Brutalism" just refers to "Beton Brut," i.e. raw concrete. There are a handful of decent brutalist buildings - IMHO Euston Station isn't brilliant but it's by no means the worst.
Haven't been on British trains in at least a decade; have they improved a lot? Looks more like Italian high speed trains than the old British Rail circa 2000.
Nicely done. Thank you. Brutalist indeed. We have similar stalinist architecture in many places here in New York. This is what you get when government is involved... I'll take the Victorian and Edwardian styles any day....
Hi Paul, is the cooked breakfast included in the price? I'm traveling from Euston to Birmingham New Street in a few weeks, I'm going first class both ways, early morning out of Euston & I just want to check I won't get charged extra for the breakfast.
+John Perry this is the one way fare, in advance, with a Railcard. I think it was a few weeks in advance. This fare regularly pops up on the 0943 from Euston to Birmingham.
+eurouc Trains "call" at stations in the UK, it's just British English for you. Not sure it's used elsewhere! It does mean the same as "stop, to pick up passengers".
+Thomas Leaper Buy a long way in advance, the 0943 on a weekday is not busy at all. Different kettle of fish at the weekend though. Also I have a Disabled Railcard which gets me 1/3 off, but even without the railcard it's still dirt cheap.
used Virgin First class for a trip to Manchester recently. The food was okay the wifi was awful and the drink sizes were a joke. was not worth the extra money. Next time I will just pay for a standard seat.
+squizza28 You could add more carriages but you would also need to extend platforms at nearly all stations. How would you do this at Euston? You'd be extending the platforms into the throat of the station, so there would be no room for the rails (it narrows very sharply and immediately after the platform ends).
+EternalPirate Never ever use Trainline. They pick from the same pool of tickets as everyone else. The difference with Trainline is they charge a £1 booking fee, which makes it actually more expensive than booking direct with the train company (the train companies themselves aren't allowed, by law, to charge any booking fees).
I really like the pendolino trains. A good experience for travelling. Always a nice smooth ride.
i`ve watched hundreds of trip reports, air and rail, and paul has got this off to a tee. informative, great quality video, just brilliant. well done m8. keep it going, its a pleasure to watch
My oh my.. Bham New Street is looking good now. Had the opportunity to come back there in 2013, it was a messy ground, renovations everywhere. Kinda missed the place, a place i called home during mid 90s, anyway good video Paul, learnt something I didn’t know about history of Bham railways. Awesome!
Good to see you're not understating the importance of pulling out on time
I hope people liked it as I work for virgin, and we try to provide the best first class experience for customers. video's well made! 😃
I loved my experience on virgin trains! Great service as well. I love the pendolinos, they are my favourites
Love that this was made on iMovie. Really shows how far you’ve come!
Very well edited video compared to endless train travels I have seen in US Amtrak, people need to know how to edit their trips down unless something interesting to see. Hope our new Acelas in 2021 (?) are as fast, this time they will have the tilt engineered correctly...LOL Acela 1st class is great Boston to Washington DC. California trains are great especially Coast Starlight from LA to Seattle, go 1st class, sleeper and private dining car and common glass dome car /bar.
Nice video! The service looks much slicker than when I used to do this journey.
Love the sound of those Alstom motors at full chat.
I wouldn't say Rugby has an infrequent service, used to commute daily from here to Euston, its a fast service at least 2-3 an hour.
Breakfast looks so nice! An excellent video on the Pendilino
this brought me back to 2013, when i went on a class 166 DMU to Birmingham new street then my first ever Pendolino 390/1 ride to Preston.
in 4 days i'm going on a CrossCountry service from reading to Wolverhampton, then a virgin west service to Glasgow central via Preston where we see some of my family. keep up the great videos man - new sub!
166s don't operate to New Street, 165s however operate to Moor Street
Interesting at 3:22- not a gimmick at all. Used to be that all the cutlery and china would rattle incessantly during the journey and it was really annoying. Glad they redesigned it.
And Curzon Street will be the Birmingham terminus for HS2 Phase 1 :D, hopefully you'll have a video out then showing off the first class on HS2.
I've been on First Class on Virgin Trains too from London Euston to Birmingham New Street... I feel like the journey is too short to fully enjoy it though, maybe if you're going to Manchester or farther afield - it would be better. Great video, btw
A good view of Willesden Carriage Shed North at 3:15
What a surprise ! Another shopping centre!
I used Virgin West Coast for the first time last week, going from Euston to Edinburgh on the Pendolino, standard class but at £14 each way it was too good to refuse. I really enjoyed my journey but also enjoyed watching this, very informative. I hope to do a First Class journey to Glasgow or Inverness one day.
This would've been East Coast, although it's been replaced by LNER
@@ovaltineforlife4778 Not from Euston. And yes, there are a few direct services on that route.
i was surprised when i saw a train video but it was a good to have a change.
+Tigershortfoot Trains are pretty good...at the right price.
Loved the review, hope you do another on board train review soon!
Your videos are very well done and soothing, really really nice.
+orange70383 Thanks!
+orange70383 Thank you!
Appreciate this one - you never quite know what first class is in a train anymore
Elena Q XC first class is crap
@@Raygun-xb2st talk about it
Something different and very enjoyable. Thanks
Glad you liked it! Thanks for commenting Al.
Fantastic video. one of the reasons why I love to visit the UK are the amazing rail service. On my last to the London, I took the same route. On the way up we stopped in Milton Keynes but on the return south we stopped in Rugby and did not stopped in Milton Keynes.
If you lived here, you wouldn't think it was amazing! :)
BirsbaneAU why
Really poor service, trains made out of busses (pacer trains), lack of investment, strikes. The list is endless.
BirsbaneAU still a million light years from anything we have in the USA. At least you have a viable option
Very interesting and informative, thanks for sharing. You have a new subscriber !
Fantastic train journey there mate I suggest you are relieved that you are back home in Birmingham
I’m a new subscriber and am loving your trip reports it’s made me want to experience everything u have 👍
I did Crewe to Edinburgh 1st class about the same time you filmed this. Really enjoyed it and as a lorry driver train is the best way to travel, Put your feet up and watch the world wiz by. Good video by the way. I did one for my trip but its not as good as yours.
great video mate i must say...i work has a train dispatcher at new street station and its amazing seeing our station looking great 😉
+faz z Glad you like the video! 💪🏻
I believe there is a plan to renovate Curzon Street as a terminus for HS2 when it eventually gets built
A slight correction here, a nine carriage length Pendolino is a Class 390/0 whilst an eleven carriage length Pendolino is a Class 390/1. Also on London Euston - West Midlands services which offer breakfast in First Class, cereal is available from the First Class Lounge at London Euston.
Very good and informative presentation. Really enjoyed it
Just like very old times there for you there . Reserved system has been very, very problematic since an upgrade was done to push through next service reservations / allow the control to 'swap units' etc - the whole system just crashes now.
Should have given us nod whilst you up in Brum also - would have been good to catch up
Thank you for the useful information.Especially the historical facts.
+lesley scarborough Glad you liked it!
Great Trip Paul. and thanks for the information. Only problem was it was only on screen for a short time and I could not read it all. Please hold your text on screen a few seconds longer. But other then that,,, a great trip. Thanks Darren in Australia.
Lovely depiction of journey
+Edward Barr Thanks :-)
I remember the little radio Inbetween the seats but you could only buy the head phones from the shop on virqin trains
Not your own headphones?
Pendolinos are the best trains to travel on, especially when there at their top speed of 125MPH
Simon Kemp Really couldn't care about windows.
Simon Kemp, one word in reply to your comment; Greyrigg.
Rebecca Farquharson come on bro not cool!
It's also why they are so durable. Remember that derail one had up in Scotland several years back? The whole train derailed and flipped over at 90MPH and only one person died out of all the passengers. If that's not impressive I don't know what is and it's due to the extremely rigid construction.
SupaHotFire, what is not cool? Simon Kemp says the Pendalinos are rubbish and reply with one word, Greyrigg.
Definitely a different trip report, but still great to watch.
Thanks. Normal service will resume next week with a flying one!
Poland has pendolino to and you get a free meal in first class to from café bar name's Wars and you get something sweet and 2 drinks to chose
Did the fry up breakfast ever turn up ?
Great video! :) I take the Pendolino's alot on the Westcoast Mainline and usually manage to cotton on cheap first class tickets. It's a shame they aren't cleaned properly the majority of the time, if i paid the standard going rates i'd be appauled but i've never had problems with the staff, they've always been friendly. It's a much better first-class than London Midland at least! (Complete waist of money, the only difference is a reclining seat haha). You should check out Abellio Greater Anglia's service from Liverpool Street to Norwich, the train's are older but the first class is pretty great! (Much better food selection than Virgin,though you don't get waited on)
+Alex Eden Abellio don't have a better food selection than Virgin! They haven't had hot food in First for several years. See: www.abelliogreateranglia.co.uk/travel-information/your-journey/catering
Virgin serve hot food at breakfast and dinner (and on Glasgow-London routes too).
Washwood Heath outside Birmingham used to have a train factory originally owned by Metro Cammell later Alstom until 2005.
Where this train was likely built!
opentraintimes! I never knew about this, very cool!
It's pretty awesome. The signalling maps are continuously expanding. It's kind of like FR24 for trains I guess. Some maps even include the current signal aspects (proceed/danger only) on the diagrams.
been on the weekend upgrade from Stafford Euston brill
Hey mate at 2:58, what's that app u using
1:18 there is no such thing as a Class 390/2. that is probably just a /1
+shelby3024's Commenting That's right. My typo!
4:15 are my eyes playing trick on me or is that a trespasser in a gray track suit at the bottom middle to the left
Didn't think you travelled VT any more. Good video Paul.
I do when someone else is paying!
At 2:01 Which number does it mean? Is it seat 42 or is there only 42 available seats on the entire train?
+shelby3024's Commenting It means that's seat 42.
I love high-speed trains.
What a name for a service plaza. Watford Gap Service Plaza is some sixty (60) miles from Watford.
Watford Gap is about half a mile from Watford (Northants).
Nice! Greetings from CH
You know so much about planes, trains and the areas in which you travel. Do you study beforehand or were you a travel geek as a kid. I would guess you still are. I don’t think being a geek is a bad thing, everyone has a geek side even if they deny it. Oh, I really like your videos especially the food parts. I guess I’m a food geek.
1:19 do you mean 390/1 because there’s no such 390/2
Alex Clift t was a typo
Brutalistic it sure is!! Unfortunately. Good job as always.
Cheers! Euston is *supposed* to be getting a redevelopment when HS2 comes along. I'll believe it when I see it.
"Brutalism" just refers to "Beton Brut," i.e. raw concrete. There are a handful of decent brutalist buildings - IMHO Euston Station isn't brilliant but it's by no means the worst.
The sausages looked a little burnt. The Birmingham station looked beautiful.
Great Video..a new subscriber 😎🎉
Paul can u ride a 221 and do a trip report after corona has gone
Haven't been on British trains in at least a decade; have they improved a lot? Looks more like Italian high speed trains than the old British Rail circa 2000.
+Craig Cowden The trains are Italian! They’re PENDOLINO trains. :-)
never been with Virgin West coast before
is the breakfast free with first class?
+SupaHotFire Yes :-)
is the food in the first class lounge, free?
+ScotRail170471 Yes it is.
Nicely done. Thank you. Brutalist indeed. We have similar stalinist architecture in many places here in New York. This is what you get when government is involved... I'll take the Victorian and Edwardian styles any day....
London to Birmingham First Class £16.50!!!!!!!! Where did you buy these tickets from?
Hi Paul, is the cooked breakfast included in the price? I'm traveling from Euston to Birmingham New Street in a few weeks, I'm going first class both ways, early morning out of Euston & I just want to check I won't get charged extra for the breakfast.
Jack Fitzsimmons no you won’t be charged, its included in the price!
@@jamiebrannonfrizocean3314 Ah ok, great thank you Paul 🙂😊.
Was this a one way trip? £16.50 is a bargain! How early did you book?
+John Perry this is the one way fare, in advance, with a Railcard. I think it was a few weeks in advance. This fare regularly pops up on the 0943 from Euston to Birmingham.
Going liverpool to London first class on the 12 August
+Jack Kerr Have a great trip!
your right about not allot of trains stopping at rugby but then it hurts your ears when trains blast past you at 125mph every minuet or 2
The legend 27 more trains stop in mornings evenings and sometimes lunchtimes.
When he says the trains no longer "call" at Rugby....what does that mean? Shouldn't he say "stop? .....
+eurouc Trains "call" at stations in the UK, it's just British English for you. Not sure it's used elsewhere!
It does mean the same as "stop, to pick up passengers".
Was the train packed on the way to Birmingham?😀😁
+Mohammed May No, this train isn't usually too busy, that's why the fare is cheap.
How on earth did you get a first class ticket for £16.5, i end up paying over £80 for two at the weekend, on the same train?
+Thomas Leaper Buy a long way in advance, the 0943 on a weekday is not busy at all. Different kettle of fish at the weekend though. Also I have a Disabled Railcard which gets me 1/3 off, but even without the railcard it's still dirt cheap.
What's Pendolino?
It's the type of train.
What your real name
lool..im used to planes but im curious about a train review..
No beans with breakfast? Refund straight get away!
+jack roofy I agree!!
+jack roofy I agree!!
jack roofy they should get beans shouldn't they, even I don't like them though I never go for that option anyway.
used Virgin First class for a trip to Manchester recently. The food was okay the wifi was awful and the drink sizes were a joke. was not worth the extra money. Next time I will just pay for a standard seat.
rachel fleming try going to Leeds for a Virgin trains east coast first class it's a lot better than the Virgin West coast trains
If we're talking King's X to the North, there is absolutely no comparison. Take the East Coast route every time.
This video makes you wonder why on earth they need HS2. Ah, they say, we need it for capacity. Ah, I say, just add on more carriages!
+squizza28 You could add more carriages but you would also need to extend platforms at nearly all stations. How would you do this at Euston? You'd be extending the platforms into the throat of the station, so there would be no room for the rails (it narrows very sharply and immediately after the platform ends).
Paul's Trip Reports could just try fitting more trains every hour!
Wow.
So, have Virgin Trains' investment, and their cleaning standards improved since?
How come his ticket was 16.50 for me it 200.
+William Talbot Buy a couple of months in advance - I also have a Disabled Railcard which gets me 33% off.
Paul's Trip Reports i have too how much are tickets bought on the day compared to Advance?
+Mark Rodin Up to ten times the price!
Paul's Trip Reports How much do you know from here (Euston) to Birmingham?
+EternalPirate Never ever use Trainline. They pick from the same pool of tickets as everyone else. The difference with Trainline is they charge a £1 booking fee, which makes it actually more expensive than booking direct with the train company (the train companies themselves aren't allowed, by law, to charge any booking fees).
Love the videos, but you only seem to do first class, how about slumming it withe the rest of us plebs :)
What on earth is that coal looking thing on plate o.O
+Czorńy Lisek It's a black pudding! Look it up :-)
Iv been to Euston On first class and it's rly good haha suck to all u economy class guys
That's the problem with private companies. They do what they feel will make them the biggest profit; clean trains do not count apparently.
toast looked burnt. But good journey otherwise!.
all can say to you fella is have you got a wife and children the amount of extremely expensive travelling you do throught the world