Virgin Trains unveils host of customer service improvements

Customers can now pick their own seats in advance and plan their journey from anywhere through a brand new website

Virgin Trains has launched several new services for its customers, through a brand new website with a fresh look and feel, and a raft of new features, including a Seat Picker system and enhanced journey-planner.

New Seat Picker to revolutionise booking

In a service usually reserved for the cinema or an airline, customers will now be able to quickly and easily select their seats while booking, using the Seat Planner. The innovative feature displays the carriage plan so that customers can choose the seat that suits them – whether it’s near the on-board shop, next to a window or close to a luggage rack.

Assistance with getting to the station

In an industry first, Virgin Trains is giving customers the ability to simplify travel plans and plot their whole journey, door-to-door, rather than just station-to-station. Customers will no longer have to fret about getting to the station or finding their destination on the other side – the service will do all the hard work for them through Google Maps.

Interactive maps and live departure boards

Easy to use, interactive station maps and full departure boards are being implemented, on top of 360˚ tours of stations through Google Streetview – customers can see exactly where the amenities are in their local station at the click of a button. The site also shows off all the best attractions and offers surrounding Virgin Trains’ stations, so customers will never be at a loss for something to do.

All part of a brand new website

All of these features are available to customers through an entirely redesigned Virgin Trains website, a new and user-friendly redesign following 12 months of rigorous design testing and development. The site has been reshaped from top to bottom based on customer feedback, so it’s easier to use across all customers’ devices – from desktop to smart phone.

Steve Tennant, Executive Director, Customer Experience for Virgin Trains, said: “Our newly updated website has been designed based on what our customers want it to be – fast, easy, and above all, useful. Customer satisfaction is of the utmost importance to us and we always do our best to react to their feedback. Our new website, created following a full year of development with our customers’ wants and needs in mind, will help people get where they want to go.”