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Post by SeanBroseley on Jan 26, 2011 10:11:56 GMT 1
28/01/2011
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Post by Shrewed on Jan 26, 2011 10:18:46 GMT 1
Really sad news, they offered an excellent service, but seems in current economic climate they just couldn't make money. Now watch the fares go up on Virgin.
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Post by SouthStandShrew on Jan 26, 2011 10:28:30 GMT 1
Don't they sponsor this site?
Never used the service but if I ever needed to get to London I would of, maybe when things pick up alittle in a few years the service may come back.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2011 10:44:11 GMT 1
I am surprised they did not increase their prices as their was definately scope to do this and be cheaper than any other travel options for the same journey.
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Post by shrewsburyshrew on Jan 26, 2011 11:03:49 GMT 1
I'm just glad I wasn't the one to break this earth-shattering news to Shrewsbury's tallest MP, Daniel Kawczynski. I shudder to think what emotional effect this will have on our esteemed honourable friend. Can you imagine his reaction when being told he's got to change at Wolverhampton?
I just hope whichever service he uses as a substitute has ample room to store his never ending supply of stationary he insists on lugging around with him.
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Post by blum on Jan 26, 2011 11:08:11 GMT 1
Having used this service (for the first time) just a couple of weeks ago I was really really impressed by it. It is a real shame.
One thing which was apparent is that their ticket prices whilst absolutely brilliant for the customer surely meant there could be issues. We were talking to a few people on the train and they paid £35 first class which included a two course meal, all tea, coffee, soft drinks and snacks!!
The staff were some of the firiendliest I have ever met on a train service too.
One thing I did hear was that Virgin would do anything they could to "harm" the WSR, on one occassion Virgin asked WSR if they could put their passengers on their train due to a technical fault with their own, this was gladly done, however, a few weeks later the same thing happened with a WSR train, they asked Virgin if they could help and they said NO CHANCE.
I hope the staff get sorted job-wise.
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Post by Dan F on Jan 26, 2011 11:31:01 GMT 1
Big shame. Very few complaints from the First Class trip we won through B&A last year, certainly better than most other TOCs I'd been with. Always just the wrong side of the country on from me, would have used them quite regularly had I been in Salop. Second Class looked a bit too rammed that day, but at least they seemed to be making money then.
Hope the staff find themselves elsewhere quickly.
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Post by Dancin on Jan 26, 2011 11:34:21 GMT 1
I have 2 open 1st Class tickets to use which I won through the Face in the Crowd comp. I wonder if Virgin will honour them? Link------> Real Shame
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Post by Pilch on Jan 26, 2011 11:41:01 GMT 1
That's made a dent in our comps this weekend Still better that's it's happened before and not after
I know they almost pulled the plug a few times a few times in the past Virgin never made it easy for them either and did often threaten to run services themselves from wrexham to London
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Post by ratcliffesghost on Jan 26, 2011 12:58:14 GMT 1
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Post by scooter on Jan 26, 2011 13:33:55 GMT 1
I have 2 open 1st Class tickets to use which I won through the Face in the Crowd comp. I wonder if Virgin will honour them? Link------> Real Shame I've got one ticket left unused
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Post by stfcfan87 on Jan 26, 2011 14:12:38 GMT 1
Yeah ive got 2 tickets sorry vouchers that I was going to use next weekend - booked the accomodation already. Having been in contact with them via e-mail, they can apparently do nothing about it, so suddenly my weekend is now £100 more expensive already - doh!!!!
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Post by ratcliffesghost on Jan 26, 2011 14:41:19 GMT 1
Just said on Radio Shropshire that any tickets sold in advance will be honoured by other rail companies - you should be ok
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Post by Steve Rogerson on Jan 26, 2011 20:53:11 GMT 1
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Post by timgallon on Jan 26, 2011 21:13:38 GMT 1
A real shame and a blow to the economy of the county.
However, i am surprised that a company running 4 (recently 3 trains each way) a day needed 55 staff to operate. Sounds too many for me.
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Post by WindsorShrew on Jan 26, 2011 21:16:25 GMT 1
Great shame but expected in many ways.
I used to have to trek through Banbury etc when I first joined up, horrific route.
As valiant as Wrexham and Salop were they were given a stale slice of bread with the route and could not compete with those who need to get to London and back to do business who haven't time to dally.
It seems the big boys win again in regards of reality v sentiment ( I blame Thatcher).
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Post by davycrockett on Jan 26, 2011 21:23:48 GMT 1
I am surprised they did not increase their prices as their was definately scope to do this and be cheaper than any other travel options for the same journey. National express return fare to london from shrewsbury is under £30 and takes about the same time as this bone rattler
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Post by albionshrew on Jan 26, 2011 22:15:06 GMT 1
Great shame but expected in many ways.....It seems the big boys win again in regards of reality v sentiment ( I blame Thatcher). I blame Simpson! (Poor chap gets the blame for everything else, so why not this?)
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2011 23:41:11 GMT 1
Surprised no one has mentioned that Wrexham & Shropshire came out top of all train companies in customer satisfaction at 96%. Proves that having good customer relations gets you sod all.
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Post by staffordshrew on Jan 27, 2011 0:38:42 GMT 1
Shame, Park and ride from Cosford was a really good idea. Now the big boys will have a ready made business case justification for not providing direct London trains from Shropshire. Should Shropshire council take notice and see that their proposed park and ride £30 million station, (somehow supposed to be a substitute for a much needed relief road) probably isn't going to make Shropshire change habits and use trains?
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Post by venceremos on Jan 27, 2011 0:40:56 GMT 1
A real shame and a blow to the economy of the county. However, i am surprised that a company running 4 (recently 3 trains each way) a day needed 55 staff to operate. Sounds too many for me. Doesn't sound excessive for a 7 day a week operation. What's that - 42 x 4 hour journeys, even on the reduced timetable? Drivers, guards, catering, cleaning, maintenance, ticketing, finance, marketing etc. It's a bad loss for the region. The best train service in the country by a long way so of course it couldn't last. Give them a tiny bit of the subsidies other train operators get and let's keep something good going, instead of this relentless drive towards our becoming a nation of poor service and high prices.
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Post by stfcfan87 on Jan 27, 2011 1:34:13 GMT 1
The only thing I don't really understand, is why if it was proving to be not full enough, did they not increase their fares? Just an increase of say £5 would still have been a lot cheaper than competitors yet would have given them an extra 10% revenue
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2011 11:48:39 GMT 1
I just hope whichever service he uses as a substitute has ample room to store his never ending supply of stationary . and his ego. i blame Blair. shame really, but as pike says, didnt stand much chance against the big boys.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2011 11:55:44 GMT 1
if the board had sanctioned a rail stop at the New Meadow, this might have made all the difference and allowed the choo-choos to be more profitable. Sort it out STFC!!!!
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Post by Minormorris64 on Jan 27, 2011 12:01:42 GMT 1
The only thing I don't really understand, is why if it was proving to be not full enough, did they not increase their fares? Just an increase of say £5 would still have been a lot cheaper than competitors yet would have given them an extra 10% revenue I think it would have taken a bit more than that Latest Filed Accounts Date: 06 Jan 2010 Turnover £4,378,000 Pre Tax Profit -£4,509,000Total Fixed Assets 0 Total Current Assets 758,000 Total Current Liabilities 11,926,000 Total Long Term Liabilities 103,000 Total Net Worth -11,271,000
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Post by stfcfan87 on Jan 27, 2011 12:27:14 GMT 1
Lost £4.5m as of a year ago? Yet they didn't increase prices in that year??
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Post by Pilch on Jan 27, 2011 13:15:57 GMT 1
They met a few years back and decided to pull out Their backers suggested they keep going, obviously the chilterns not so keen
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2011 13:18:46 GMT 1
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2011 13:29:19 GMT 1
I also have a couple of tickets to use from a previous B&A comp.
I've contacted someone at Wrexham & Shropshire trains and they said tickets will be valid on Virgin trains. Call customer support on 0845 260 5200
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2011 13:48:36 GMT 1
That's a real shame. It was a great service.
However, the fact that the first train did not arrive in London until 9am was a real problem which I'm sure was reason why the end has come so quickly.
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