End of the line...

My earliest memory of trains was when I was walking down to Oxenholme station as a child and watching the first Virgin Trains service to stop at Oxenholme. There was loads of excitement on the platforms from people. Me and my Dad stood on the road bridge over the platforms and watched the train arrive and depart from there. 

After this, my memory of travelling on them was travelling down to Cardiff to see family when I was a kid in the school summer holidays (Not all the way to Cardiff obviously). I've always loved travelling by train, and most of my train journeys through life have involved travelling on a Virgin Train. In this time I have hardly ever had a bad experience on them. Below I am going to share a couple of my memories of Virgin trains over the years. 

2011:

This is the year my eldest daughter was born. At the time of her birth I was living in Worcestershire and my Dad was living in Cumbria.  It's a journey I remember very vividly. 

After getting a lift to Birmingham New Street, myself and my daughter boarded the train, got our seats, my daughter was not in the mood for being quiet at the start of the journey, much to the annoyance of other passengers, was peak travelling time in the morning and there was several people trying to work or read the papers. My daughter soon calmed down after a while and fell asleep. After she fell asleep, the train manager came along to check my tickets, I remember the train manager commenting about my daughter looking peaceful when asleep. After this, the journey went smoothly and relaxing. I was travelling to Oxenholme where my Dad was meeting us off the train. Getting off the train at Oxenholme with my daughter to meet my dad at the station was where I first saw an Intercity train with my Dad and it  was a great moment. 

2012:

A year after my trip with my daughter, I got a chance to move back to Cumbria. I was able to get a transfer with work to Cumbria. So the decision was made, I was moving back to Cumbria. My journey was going to be on the first northbound service out of Birmingham New Street in the morning. After the journey from Birmingham to Lancaster I changed there to make a connection for the train to Barrow-In-Furness. 

This journey was one that was going to change my life, not because of anything that happened on the journey, but had I not made the decision to make this journey then i potentially wouldn't have been able to spend the time I did with my Dad before he lost his battle to cancer.  This is a journey that I am always grateful that I made. 

2014

In January 2014 my Dad lost his battle to cancer, it was a time when my head was not with it at all and I just needed to escape. As a way to escape and recover from the loss, my best friend and I booked a holiday away to Wales for us, a sort of escape from everything and to return with a fresh start. 

The journey, as in 2012, wasn't really anything special. As my mate lives in Somerset we had agreed to meet at Crewe before heading across to Wales the next morning. My journey started at Oxenholme on the last service that went south of Preston. I remember the train was particularly busy until Preston. After Preston the train was pretty much empty. 

2018

Fast forward 4 years and I now have a 7 year old menace of my own. About the same age as I was when I first went on trains. I took my daughter on her first Virgin Train. Having seen the first Virgin service to stop at Oxenholme with my Dad, it was quite emotional for me to now be taking my child on a Virgin train to the same station that I first saw a Virgin Train for the first time. She was amazed that a train could have a real shop on it and that it could go so fast, before this the only trains she had been on was local stopping services on the Cumbria Coast Line. My daughter now is always asking if she can go on a big red train again.

Over the last 22 years I have had the pleasure of travelling with Virgin Trains on hundreds of journeys. In all that time I have met hundreds of staff, chatted to many of them. I have tweeted @VirginTrains hundreds of times. In all of these occasions I can never remember an occasion where I have had to complain, never had a time where I have had to think why do I need to use these trains. Now, sat at my desk at home, I find myself thinking I have never known a reason as to why Virgin Trains should be losing the franchise. 

In my honest opinion, Virgin Trains have not just been the best railway operator in the UK, but they have actually been the best public transport operator in the UK! 

A West Coast Main Line without a Virgin train on it just sounds wrong, but it is something we will all have to get used to. 

To Virgin Trains....

Thank you for all the memories, you've been a part of my life through all the good and the bad. I will miss you!

To First Trenitalia...

You've a hell of an act to follow!!! In my mind It's like David Moyes taking over Sir Alex Ferguson at Man Utd, I feel it's an impossible dream!