Virgin Trains' services 6th-9th April 2010

Some Network Rail staff belonging to the RMT and TSSA unions have announced that they plan to take industrial action between 06:00 and 10:00, and between 18:00 and 22:00 each day from Tuesday 6 April to Friday 9 April. Rail travel during the Easter weekend will not be affected.
Negotiations are ongoing to resolve this dispute and avoid any industrial action; however if it does go ahead there is likely to be some significant disruption to train services. Virgin Trains and the other Train companies are working closely with Network Rail to ensure that we can run as many trains as possible.

We are currently planning to operate the following services on each of the affected dates:

London - Manchester -reduced to 2 trains per hour one via Stoke and the other via Crewe
London - Birmingham - reduced to 2 trains per hour, with one of these services per hour continuing to Wolverhampton
London – Scotland - trains will run an hourly service until early afternoon.
London – Liverpool - trains will not run
London - Chester / North Wales - trains will not run
Birmingham – Scotland – trains will now depart or terminate at Crewe and continue to run hourly

Unfortunately Stafford, Runcorn, Liverpool Lime Street, Chester, Macclesfield and Stockport stations will not be served by Virgin Trains during this period. Full details of the planned service and the timetable for next week are available at virgintrains.com

Our revised timetable will be avilable through

http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/updates/

Refund policy in the event of industrial action

ATOC have sent this communication to TMCs today - I'm attaching a copy here for ease of reference

Processing of refunds through ATOC – licenced third party retailers for passengers affected by the planned RMT/TSSA industrial action on 6th-9th April 2010
The change of travel and refund arrangements which will apply during the affected strike days (6/7/8/9 April 2010) are described on the National Rail Enquiries website (http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/2010/dispute.html
This page will be continuously updated with the latest information on train services but the change of travel and refund conditions described will apply throughout the strike period. Please check this page on a regular basis for train service updates.
We are allowing passengers plenty of opportunity to change their travel arrangements without the need to re-book (see the National Rail Enquiries link above) and hope that many will do this rather than seek a refund. Please advise customers of these change of journey arrangements prior to a accepting refund requests.
If a customer’s journey runs as normal (out and return) standard conditions apply and a refund should not be made. Please check the NRE website for information on which train services are running before accepting refund requests.
However, if any part of a customers journey is likely to be disrupted (either out or return, or for part of the journey), they will be able to travel on an alternative day or obtain a refund (without any administration fee) for the unused journey(s) from where the ticket was bought.
We recognise that the nature of the planned industrial action is unusual in that it is both on a national basis and extends over four days. In these exceptional circumstances, we expect that there will be an unusually large number of refund requests. As agents will not be able to recover any additional costs resulting from these exceptional circumstances through the normal refund administration fee arrangements, ATOC will, on a goodwill basis, pay all agents a £5 fee per booking transaction, where the transaction involves travel on at least one of the strike-affected days. This payment is without prejudice to any arrangements that might apply in the event of industrial action in the future.
A transaction is defined as the basket of tickets associated with any purchase/order. For online sales this means the number of tickets in a customer’s shopping basket (which could mean a number of travellers and a combination of one way and return tickets, except where single leg, Advance Purchase bookings are made which will be classified as a separate transaction per direction of travel). This same principle should, as far as possible, be applied to call centre, intranet and face to face sales.
TAs and TMCs are asked to process these refund applications in the usual manner through the Travel Agents Refund Service (TARS) but must submit a separate, Summary Record of Refunded Fares form which will detail the refund applications where a full refund is being made under these special strike arrangements. This will allow TARS to process the refund.
An amended copy of this form (blank copies of which will be available on the ATOC Travel Agents website by close of business 31/03/10) must also be forwarded to ATOC. The amended form requires, for audit trail purposes, additional information: the date of travel affected by the industrial action, from/to details (and in the case of Advance tickets, train service details), the customer’s name and the date of ticket issue. A column headed Agency Special Admin Fees Claimed should contain the refund fees being requested under this arrangement. This information should be sent to:
ATOC Limited, 3rd Party Retailing Dept, 3rd Floor, 40 Bernard Street, London WC1N 1BY.
It is the basis of this form that ATOC will make arrangements to reimburse you through the Automated Settlement procedure once an audit of the return has been completed .
There is still a strong possibility that the planned industrial action will be called off. We will be issuing further instructions on the arrangements that will apply in these circumstances.

New TMC Training Course announced by ATOC

ATOC issued the following press release on 30th March 2010.

The Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) has launched a new online training scheme that will save money for travel agencies licensed to sell train tickets.
From 6 April 2010, the Quality of Service Certificate (QSC) that must be held by any agency wanting to sell train tickets will be replaced by the Certificate of Rail Agent Competency (CORAC). Both were developed by ATOC, which represents Britain’s train operators.
The QSC was a two-day classroom-style training course that meant agents racking up travel and accommodation costs in attending, and their employers having to find cover for staff while they were away. The CORAC training and exams, on the other hand, can be done online from agents’ workplaces.
Study guides can be downloaded to help agents pass the exams, which test candidates’ knowledge of subjects including the dimensions of the rail network, UK geography, rail industry terminology and how travel agents can meet passengers’ needs.
David Mapp, ATOC Commercial Director said: “With rail travel now more popular in Britain than at any time since the Second World War, it has never been more important for travel agencies to be able to sell train tickets.
“Travel agents studying for the CORAC will develop the expertise on rail travel that will allow them to meet record demand for train tickets, without having to leave the office.
“This new qualification means they can get all the training they need while saving money at the same time.”
Notes
· Each travel agency office must have at least two staff – or 20% of the team, whichever is greater – qualified in order to hold a license to sell train tickets.
· The new scheme involves three multiple choice exams – one general exam on the country’s rail network, and two on the train companies that operate on the network.
· The cost for all three exams will be £99, meaning significant savings when compared against the QSC course. The charge for the QSC was £360, and it also required candidates to accumulate travel expenses in attending courses, and their employers to pay for cover while they were away. Current QSC holders will only need to sit two exams and pay £66.
· All exams are timed. The general exam lasts one hour, the others last half an hour each.
· Candidates must achieve a pass mark of at least 85% in all the exams, and are notified whether they have passed immediately after each exam. They will be given a break-down of questions answered correctly and incorrectly, allowing them to concentrate their studies where necessary.
· The CORAC qualification has been developed by the Association of Train Operating Companies. Study guides and the exams can be found on its website for travel agents, www.atoctravelagents.org. Agents will need to create a user account in order to access the relevant pages.
Once registered, agents will have three months to study and complete the exams. Candidates who do not pass an exam can re-take it as many times as is necessary within this period for a cost of £33 each time. If all the exams are not completed after the three months, they will need to re-register and pay the £99 fee again. Any completed exams at that point will become void.

Easter Services

We've produced a leaflet with details of our Easter timetable - you can find this on 'links' on the right of the page, where you can download it.