Virgin is a delight to travel in if perhaps for shortish journeys only as it seems much slower than the GNER speedsters. Carriages are clean and mostly empty by the time it reaches Berwick from the deep south and surprisingly unused going south as well; perhaps travelers to the nether regions don't want to spend most of a long day going to Bournemouth or Exeter.
Anyhow the loos are a delight with the push button technology favoured by Mr Sugars. Its like entering a secure bank vault and the door closes smoothly and silently behind you. Only worry for the neurotic, as one crouches comfortably contemplating matters of great moment, is will the door actually open again to let you out again. But they are sparkling clean- a tomb possibly but a clean one-not even pharaoh had one of those. And the digital seat reservations-no tearing off of reservation tickets by unscrupulous passengers, as often happens on GNER.
If GNER renews its franchise there is a thing or two to learn from Virgin-but not punctuality-one Bournemouth train was a day late. But in the space encapsulated surroundings of Sugar class who cares?
