Virgin Trains - Bonus Video

Virgin West Coast got in touch with us to see if we wanted to see behind the scenes of one the kitchens on there trains, so we said yes!
And then we then we paid a visit to the Hitachi factory at Heighington to see where the new Azuma trains are being built .. there's also a longer version of the chat we had with Sam one their designers - it's a Virgin Trains special!
Website: www.allthestations.co.uk/

[@1BarnetTE.]

Never would we know 2 years later Virgin Trains will be history.

[@supershrek99]

Congratulations to the Virgin livery designer, you made your trains look like barbershop poles

[@EM81YT]

supershrek99 I’ve never noticed that!

[@filpaul]

2:10 It’s almost hypnotic, you can’t look away from it. _KZbin: Here’s a good place to put an ad._

[@Albatross-365]

They have partially dry trains too. Was on a train to Edinburgh and because of football they weren't allowed to serve alcohol until after Newcastle. As soon as we left a long queue formed at the buffet :D

[@Nilguiri]

They certainly are beautiful looking trains. Not as cool and futuristic looking as the majestic Pacer, of course.

[@tommykiryu777]

Nilguiri You having a laugh? Pacers are ugly and unreliable, and nowhere near as fast...

[@gabrie1maude]

he was joking ffs

[@kyleTQ]

pAcERs aRe UNdeR ApPreCiAtEd

[@colinward1007]

Kyle Clements yep. Just like syphilis.

[@britishavaition9222]

I know he is jokein around but to tell you truth pacers are ugly, slow, unreliable, and seriously leaky i was traveling on a Pacer on that parliamentary train service from Stockport and since it was raining hard the water keeped hiting my face so i left at Reddish South and waited a week for my train to Stalybridge O_O

[@ciaranbird3373]

7:37 I saw on a documentary, the guard of a pendolino turned the heating up so all the drunks fell asleep!

[@DangItshere]

Man Behind The Camera haha i'm the 125th like. go go HST lol

[@utterlee]

Ahh, does that explain why Virgin Trains Standard Class carriages are almost ALWAYS horrendously too hot?

[@alicebailey6345]

I saw that documentary!

[@noahbowie5985]

I also saw that

[@NorthEnglandTransport]

Ive never ridden virgin before

[@jakeavis4170]

We've had these style of train for nearly eight years here in Kent, whether they're necessary or not I can never be sure but oh boy it's a lot faster than what we had before!

[@jonathanroberts1328]

The Javelin could be a twin for this train !

[@ericjamieson]

+Jonathan Roberts They're both based on the Hitachi A-train platform.

[@batman51]

Many, many years ago I went on a visit to Crewe works which was building a lot of Class 47 locos. They had batch numbers but a worker kindly told us what to add to it to get the official BR number so we were able to cross off a lot all at once! On the same, steam hauled, trip we all nearly choked to death when the train was stopped in a tunnel near Wellington. I remember it well!

[@rebekahsegun8319]

My local station is on the East Coast Mainline and I hear Vrigin trains roaring past everyday- I can't WAIT to see these new trains!

[@nxea321446]

They are assembling them in Newton Aycliffe. The shells arrive from Japan. They put them together, not build them, hence why it's known as an assembly plant!

[@home-space]

Love your videos, enthusiasm and positivity. You need to come over to New Zealand to do all the stations in New Zealand. Some very interesting lines and history, and very scenic.

[@davekirwin]

Very interesting behind the scenes bonus vid, thanks G & V.

[@casualonion]

I saw the Azuma in Doncaster yesterday and it looked awesome.

[@pizzask]

I know it wasn't mentioned, but surely some of the reason for the Azuma name is because it sounds fast (a zoomer!)

[@pizzask]

I think the brand will stick because it's distinctive, and even beyond the onomatopoeic implications, has connotations of fast, efficient Japanese rail. Even here in Victoria, when the Regional Fast Rail project was launched 15 years ago with track upgrades and new rolling stock for the regional train operator V/Line, the new class of DMU was named V/Locity... and that name has well and truly stuck, even when the services aren''t actually that fast any more.

[@TheDancingGamer01]

Azuma means East in japanese

[@GustavSvard]

While it is a word in Japanese, I think Steven makes a good point. Had the Japanese word been "Azlowa" then Virgin would not have picked that as the brand. That Azuma sounds a bit like "a zoomer" ment it gives a positive speedy feeling to Englishspeakers and thus a word Virgin could pick easily.

[@chookitate]

Steven Kendall Azuma is japanese for 'A New Dawn' Which is what richard branson wants azuma to be

[@Flymochairman1]

I'm glad it's not a derogation of 'Asuma Sensai' from the 'Naruto' anime...he smoked too much!

[@justrowewithit2463]

If this train fell on my head, this hat would protect me. - Geoff Marshall 2017

[@mrsgoggins1528]

He’s taken advice from Jeremy Clarkson.

[@keithspillett7312]

Very enjoyable to watch, as always.

[@naijiktom]

I hope that one day, once again we can build all of our trains here in the UK from scratch.

[@ChrisKitVeedubber]

I'm very excited for GWR to get its class 802s, but I will miss watching my beloved HSTs going past Long Rock depot and Dawlish seafront. Also PACERS FOREVER!

[@airfoxtrot2006]

Excellent video those trains look cool!

[@toe102]

even tho you was there to see the virgin trains thanks for keeping the scotrail bits in as it gives me a look at what i will get up hear soon

[@andijames4870]

brings tears to my eyes

[@oddzag]

Glad that chef appreciated his priv 😂

[@Benji_transport_vids]

The origin story of the LNER's Azumas XD

[@michaelbruchas6663]

We need these on Amtrak in the US....

[@Transportationspotting]

I’ve forgotten, please tell me how long did the Azumas last with Virgin before they lost the franchise and it became LNER? Excellent to see

[@StirlingWatt]

They didn't, ironically only introduced after LNER took over in 2019

[@Monty13Transport]

I always love your videos.

[@LondonBuses1503]

Lucky you two! You must have enjoyed your special day! :-) Trust Geoff to get footage of the tea 4:13

[@lcmortensen]

In New Zealand, it's an offence to sell alcohol to an intoxicated person. If caught, the business can be fined up to $10,000 and/or lose their liquor licence for up to 7 days, and the person who actually sold it can be fined up to $2,000.

[@marcussheen]

I think it's the same in the UK, too, although not sure of the fines

[@OxyBoxy]

It's exactly the same in the UK. Plus it's legal to refuse to serve alcohol for any reason

[@siccodierdorp6947]

Good video as usual. It is quite intriguing to notice that there is always one dislike as soon as a new video comes out. So there seems to be someone who has subscribed, has notifications just to waste no time to dislike a brand new video. How quaint:) Bet he's from the IOW.

[@ianmcclavin]

Sicco Dierdorp Well, as our Aussie friends sometimes say, I suppose we've got BUCKLEY'S CHANCE of finding out who did it !!

[@grahamlive]

Sicco Dierdorp I reckon it's Geoff. Trains have warped his mind. 😎😂😀

[@Nilguiri]

Maybe he'll stop downvoting if they ever finally get to the IOW.

[@DavidShepheard]

Ian Mcclavin You mention "our Aussie friends". Do you think the thumb's down is an "Aussie like"? :-P

[@Keefa24]

Like - upside down, you mean? Haha! Great video, by the way!

[@mellowfellow6816]

Fascinating

[@teescottageguyproductions]

Will that Azuma USB stick be for sale?

[@xm3405]

Well the end of 2018 has happened and virgin east coast no longer exist.

[@VexSG]

It's sad to see them go, but Avanti Looks promising!

[@AlexB-vp9vc]

He not talking about Virgin West Coast he is talking about Virgin East Coast which ended in 2018 flr LNER

[@ashleyjiscool]

Who still remember that virgin cross country exixeted

[@BrunoMonstersChannel]

The Azuma trains sound cool, my current favourite Virgin train is the Pendolino

[@moritzl7065]

Many people in the comments discuss how it would be better if the trains were fully built in the UK rather than only being assembled there. Thing is, if 1) you want better trains than pacers/sprinters, or 2) your level of tech is limited, then the only possible way to get fancy trains is to import them. A possible solution might be to legit buy the technology and then manufacture them in the UK. China did this and succeeded (though some would say that China copycatted Germany/Japan but that's a whole other story).

[@DavidShepheard]

It would be better...in the long run, if the country that invented trains had the capacity to build them again. People have been talking about leaving the EU to "fix" the UK, but all we need is to be able to build cool stuff and export it. We had the APT, but it got cancelled before being finished, so we *were* a world leader on the sort of trains that Virgin needs. Sadly we decided to opt out of being a world leader. (The UK was the third country in the world into space too and bailed out of that. And space is a massive industry now. It's been the same with train manufacturing, ship manufacturing and countless other industries.) We need to have a government that will spend the time and money reestablishing pretty much everything that British Rail had...and more. Let's take the best ideas from other countries and build on them. Trains like these Azumas could and should be a stepping stone towards us getting fully back into the train business.

[@avantiwestcoastguy]

Love those trains

[@cbak12sg]

"Tea, shaken, not stirred"

[@ZaphodHarkonnen]

For the chip and pin card stuff in a tunnel the machine can store a certain value of transactions without having to phone it. It generally requires specific functionality on the terminal to be enabled for a specific merchant. Source: I'm a software dev that's had to interact with card payment terminals in the past. ;)

[@kaitlyn__L]

the bank can also approve/deny the ability to do "offline transactions", with the variable on the card... with no indication if it will or won't work until you try it >.> the failure message on the chip&pin machines is completely opaque too, just... transaction failed. i've had to go hungry/thirsty on trains when i don't have any backup cash before. (i can't believe that companies like visa think all of this is mature enough to push for a "cashless society", when things like this still happen, though.)

[@georgeackerman90]

I loved the free travel comment !!!

[@HMSDaring1]

I'd love to see these on the GWR line in derive.... Soon

[@neilburns8869]

It just goes to show how impressive an idea the guy who designed the swoosh for the Virgin train carriages actually had, because if you look at the Avanti WC trains now, it's almost the same idea but instead of being the bright red of Virgin it's now the dark green of Avanti.😉🤫

[@princessperl3643]

"I love math" in the most cheesy American accent I can attempt. Good t-shirt Geoff. 😂😂

[@longpier350]

i live on the east cost route where azuma's are a distance memory

[@TomsPhotos]

It's actually an offence to sell alcohol to a person who is clearly drunk, so glad to see Virgin have briefed their staff correctly!

[@tonyp011]

do you know if the new azuma that's destined for virgin east coast main line will eventually replace the virgin pendolino on the west coast main line so that the Branston brand is on both main line networks that he currently operates on

[@kaitlyn__L]

it's doubtful. the pendolinos are 14 years old, the HSTs on the ECML are 40 years old. the pendolinos' nose matches the class 800s' much better too, from a branding styling perspective, which the voyagers and super voyagers also match quite well despite not tilting themselves. (but of course virgin had no problem running 225s with a completely different look, either.)

[@gregsd]

Virgin East Coast's livery is shocking as are their onboard catering facilities, East Coast are a tough act to follow. Buying Japanese trains will not give us a Japanese style service.

[@agent_605]

I find VTEC livery quite nice, it flows well with the train as well as being smart and fits well on the trains. East Coast livery I found was boring and plain, no sense of character, it was almost like bare metal. Their onboard catering facilities are identical to East Coasts, if not better IMO

[@willmelbourne]

I really, really like the GWR livery. It is so simple yet so elegant, and has an iconic colour.

[@alfietheg4m3r-robloxmore14]

I think it'll gain more interest to the railways more people and all of that

[@kaitlyn__L]

i think it's no coincidence that east coast was run by the government and had good service... more taxes are spent on network rail's maintenance with the TOCs pushing the infrastructure so hard today than was spent in BR days... that and the TOCs getting to charge NR fines for delays that were possibly NR's fault (with a higher per minute cap than NR can fine the TOCs in the reverse situation!). if all of that extra money was spent on infrastructure upgrades instead, i wonder where we'd be today. (heck, the govt had to un-privatise rail maintenance after the railtrack fiascos.. yet are keeping up the TOC arrangement. pfft.)

[@JohnTalbot-k6xi]

Great Job (!!)

[@craigycraig85]

are virgin east cost witch is now lner still getting these trains

[@bender7565]

I thought it was gonna be about trains that hadn't been rode yet!

[@alfietheg4m3r-robloxmore14]

Or pendilino class 390 in uk with virgin trains livery??

[@Ulleskelf]

One of the things I love seeing when you walk on a footpath adjacent to a railway line is all the gubbins under the train. You don't see that when you're boarding a train at platform level.

[@benc_1200]

So I assume this must've been before they lost the contract for the East Coast route? And I assume they weren't intending on loosing the contract, but they did; so these trains will never really be seen up on the east coast, now it's 2019 and I haven't seen one of these trains yet; perhaps they are there, but I haven't seen one.

[@agent_605]

They're in service now. They were ordered by the Government so regardless of whether Virgin existed or not they would've been delivered, they were ordered when East Coast were still operating the route

[@scullytawoody4852]

That was a cool video

[@Nooticus]

I've already seen a class 800 being tested on the Great Western main line :D

[@Cloudrak]

Same! :D

[@bridgetmclaughlin251]

How does Geoff feel about PPE gear now?

[@pendolinofan643]

Nice video

[@TheNails3]

Geoff loves using abbreviations! PPE, TOC, DMI etc. etc.

[@michaelbruchas6663]

Fascinating...audio lip synch is off at times, though...

[@ChoobChoob]

6:33 I think this guy gave me a free cup of tea once because I kept going to the shop to buy crisps and chocolate.

[@lohphat]

I’m surprised they’re a dual-bogey carriage instead of a shared-bogey design the Eurostar uses to save weight.

[@tommercer1406]

I'm so confused. Did LNER take all of this?

[@mulgee2241]

wait so are these coming out on the west or east coast or both. I dont think virgin would replace the pendolinos with these on the west so i reckon its the east but i am not sure

[@KasabianFan44]

These trains are going to Virgin Trains East Coast (London to Leeds and Edinburgh), Great Western Railway (London to South Wales and Cornwall) and TransPennine Express (Liverpool and Manchester to Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow). Virgin Trains [West Coast] is not receiving them.

[@extrude22]

East coast only. The pendolino's aren't going anywhere.

[@mulgee2241]

NoYourself k thx

[@conzconnorr4526]

in the description shouldn't it be "their trains" not "there trains"

[@airplaneplustrainguy8143]

What is inside the Azuma USB in 2:23? what Richard Branson nude pics

[@BanTech_Systems]

I miss virgin trains

[@EoRdE6]

Sad to see no more Virgin they had great designers

[@juulvlog]

Virgin and Arriva are really nice companies!

[@mh_dot_fm]

8:03 - Tilting Ale, wow)

[@47222]

In this country we are restricted to speed and paths on our railway yes we need new trains on east coast but we need more seats not speed.take the tpe that Geoffrey on in 3 carriages and they get proper full in BR days they used to have 5-6 carriages we are going backwards not forwards

[@agent_605]

The new trains have more seats than the previous units and have the same speed rating and a higher acceleration rate, so that trains can run closer together and more services can run

[@rowannichol8627]

Not closer, that is fixed by the signaling system. Acceleration on the other hand all gains those savings which can add up, or, with timetable left unchanged, get that bit quicker recovery from delay and service recovery.

[@luk3c1ary]

Will this replace 390s as well

[@allmyothersubscriptions]

No, these trains will not replace class 390s, the class 390 were only introduced in 2002 and have another 20 years in them at least! HST's lasted over 40 years!!

[@gareth-stuartogg7887]

The chip and pin never works 😂

[@filip9587]

I don't really like the design of the new Azuma Virgin trains, though I love and will always love the design of the Pendolino Virgin trains!!

[@ianmcclavin]

I'm amazed to see a Trans-Pennine Express that empty. Normally they're pitching tents in the aisles and placing their kids in the luggage racks!! (only kidding about the last bit, lol, please don't ANYBODY do it....)

[@josephkarl2061]

12:19 reminds me of a Cylon for some reason...

[@SamSitar]

what is banana ketchup like?

[@class387productions3]

In 2018

[@Jackaoz]

A future employment opportunity for you pair? Geoff and Vicki's British Trains Spectacular. Media and publicity consultants for all of British Railways. :)

[@Flymochairman1]

I am seldom contentious but I think that the new Hitachi AT300s look better in the GWR 800 class green. It just...fits...but I'm a sucker for anything in BRG. !:^)

[@camotech1314]

LNER AZUMA 🎉🎉🎉

[@neilburns8869]

Orange Polenta cake. If memory serves me correctly Polenta is similar to Semolina pudding.

[@andrewholloway231]

9:03 A visit to the Hitachi factory. You jammy little ........

[@alfiewhittaker3763]

dont forget the TPE

[@StaxRail]

Those Azumas are basically Nissan Micras

[@tsu8003]

Unlike HSTs that are basically Morris Minors.

[@oforid2227]

@@tsu8003 oh yh i haven't seen them in a while

[@servertoaster]

6:50 Dan!

[@alfietheg4m3r-robloxmore14]

1tommytrouble huh?

[@shroomyesc]

This might sound like an odd question but why do british trains run on internal combustion rather than electric motors?

[@shroomyesc]

oh okay

[@Mortimer50145]

It will be interesting to see whether Hitachi have managed to solve the fundamental problem that has afflicted the design of so many recent trains: lining up the seats with the windows so every seat has a good view out. It can't be rocket science to decide what seating pitch you want and to design the windows and the seat brackets at this same spacing. Express and commuter trains may have different seating pitch - so have different bodies with differently-spaced windows.

[@extrude22]

Mortimer50145 you do realise that lining the seats up with the windows would result in fewer seats being able to fit in the carriage?

[@extrude22]

Charles M think about it. Every operator will have a different seating layout. They aren't going to produce a slightly different body for each customer.

[@extrude22]

The glass in the windows isn't expensive to produce. But having larger or smaller windows or a different arrangement will have an impact on the structural strength of the carridges which needs to be worked out and tested. It makes most sense for the manufacturer to produce trains that are as structurally identical to each other as possible. That way the expensive design and testing work only needs to be done once.

[@Mortimer50145]

That's fair enough and makes a lot of sense, but why is it only a recent phenomenon? Most slam-door carriages had windows that coincided exactly with each seat. It only seems to be a problem with modern sliding-door carriages. Is that because there is more re-use of the same design for lots of different customers with different seating requirements, or is it because modern trains required more of the carriage's strength and crash-worthiness to be taken by its walls, so placement and size of windows becomes an issue that it wasn't previously?

[@kaitlyn__L]

it's because TOCs have different layouts, which only get submitted to the manufacturers after the preliminary testing is complete, so the train's body is already finalised. but back in the day, BR knew exactly how the trains would be laid out before they get built, because things were more integrated. today, TOCs will redo the layout now and then to say "we've renovated", which completely breaks seat alignment. many a time have i sat on a class 165/166 from FGR (because that's what it was called on those journeys), my view being just a wall or a tiny sliver of a window the seat in front of me is enjoying. it's a real shame.

[@FozzQuaker]

It is actually illegal to be drunk on licenced premises hence why he has the power to say to a beer

[@colanitower]

Shinkansen Light, Starters Edition

[@jacklowe1787]

So you have been IN MY HOME TOWN AND I DIDNT REALISE Noooooooooo no no no no

[@jamesdavison1786]

JackLowe178 it’s all the stations. If your home town has a station, they’ve been there

[@heyrodtrainspotter9700]

The old FTPE colours

[@davidprice6994]

i still like the old HST's

[@uwlodar]

The HST's are fantastic, they will be missed. Going on a HST always felt like stepping on a proper train, in comparison to the desiro's, voyagers etc... However, they are pretty slow by modern standards, and like an old car, its probably starting to cost more to maintain them that it would to just get a new fleet of class 800's.

[@agent_605]

Desiros are good, however Voyagers are terrible! They look awful, like a deformed Pendolino, they also have almost no leg room whatsoever, if you're above 6ft, you're squashed. Worst of all, the CrossCountry units have no buffet for the journey, which is probably something you'll need on a journey of up to 13 hours!

[@agent_605]

Trains&Stuff I think the 222s look better, their light clusters match the shape of the livery and body shell and flow well. The 222s are how the Voyagers should have looked. The 222s aren’t great but they look better and are laid out better on the inside. This is just my opinion though

[@agent_605]

Trains&Stuff I think they flow with the body shell and follow how the air moves whilst the 220/221 have just random blobs of lights on the front

[@agent_605]

Trains&Stuff yes since there would be much better HSTs on the route

[@MyUnoriginalUsername]

Pendelino, voyager ) Azuma

[@ianshort2935]

GWR’s are called IETs

[@ianshort2935]

@@C455 IEPs are the official name. GWR call theirs Intercity Express Train or IETs

[@AndreasP07]

Is their a reason trains have a resto in the UK? There is no catering on Belgian trains, only on internationaly like Thalys, Eurostar, TGV and ICE.

[@holnrew]

I hate the Azuma branding. I'll be too confusing with GWR running IEP trains too. I hope they don't stick with the grey livery. Also Pendolino is the name of the family of Italian trains that use the (British developed) tilting technology, not sure they can take too much credit for coming up with the name. Great to see the Hitachi plant though, just a pity they're assembled rather than built from scratch here.

[@agent_605]

The APT and early Pendolinos were developed at the same time, however the early Pendolinos used the technology in the APT from the late 1980s to improve reliability to get the current models we see today

[@Tsass0]

O so luck people

[@geraldgreen5371]

Are the Virgin Trainset available in HO/OO SCALE YET, IF THEY ARE HOW DO I GET ONE OF THOSE AZUMA TRAINSETS???

[@alexisdespland4939]

did you uys do the old waterloo international platforms.

[@AllTheStations]

as part of our Virgin special? no, no we didn't.

[@alexisdespland4939]

of course not on this video i was talking about in general i do not remember seeing it dose not mean they weren't done.

[@janscattergood7294]

Why do they have to have yellow on the front? Is it a safety thing? x

[@juansdf1]

#BringBackBR

[@starlinguk]

Are they getting rid of the Pendolinos? I hate those so much.

[@uwlodar]

I doubt they are. The Pendolino's are still fairly new, being introduced around the same time as the voyagers iirc. Ultimately, the Pendolino's are pretty nice trains in terms of the ride quality and space. Do you just not like them because they're busy or something?

[@richardtalbot8769]

Azuma is for east coast services, pendolinos are for west coast services.