Grand Central 3, virgin trains 0

I was in a rush, as usual, to get to where I needed to get. Before I got distracted by anything else I thought it would make a lot of sense to look up train times for getting from A (Manchester) to B (London), particularly as its a Sunday. So – I check virgin trains website – no direct trains – the only route that comes up is to travel further North to York and then catch a train to Kings Cross.

I try another link a friend uses – thetrainline.com it proposes that I travel to Rugby, get a bus and then another train from somewhere else. I don't fancy the idea of getting a replacement bus. Much rather go for services that are just up and running than some replacement service that will be figuring itself out as it goes along and dealing with confused, frustrated, anxious passengers.

I get a taxi to the train station, and have 9 minutes to get a ticket. Stupidly I buy a virgin train ticket Manchester to London without thinking. I reassure myself that it came up on their website. There's time to pass by the virgin train desk before getting on the York train.

'Hi what's the fastest route to London today'. She tells me a third option I had not come across going via Nuneaton. 'Oh' I express surprise, 'your website proposed going to York and then King Cross'.

'That's not a valid route'. 'Oh' I say, 'What time does the valid route get me to London?' She tells me '18.04'. 'Oh', I say, that's not the fastest route. What if I want the fastest route and thats getting on that train to York? The robot lady (bless her) repeats 'its not a valid route'. 'But as a person, who is in a hurry, can I buy a single to York and get on that train leaving in 6 minutes. 'Yes, I suppose so'.

If you are willing to pay a bit extra, there are faster routes on a Sunday. Having all of these three options will, I would imagine, ease congestion on the 'valid' route for this Sunday. Presumably people can decide what they'd like – stick to the rules and get there slower or make their own rules and get there quicker. Am on the train to York and so far so good (touch wood).

Arrived in York on time with plenty of time to get a ticket from York to London on the Grand Central Train Network. I noticed there were two trains going to London, one leaving at 15.31 and another leaving at 15.34. Confusion. I went to the ticket office. The lady, who worked for the train running at 15.34 told me – her train gets in at 17.49 and cost 83 pounds, whereas the 15.31 on the grandcentral route gets in at 17.34 and costs 34 pounds. I buy a single for the 15.31 and am now wondering why the hell two trains are running to the same destination only three minutes apart. And , for a sustainability perspective – how bad is this for the planet? What is the pivotal event or series of events in history that enabled this to happen? My history is not so good so I will have to resort to the internet.

Between trains I had plenty of time to get a coffee (decay soya latte) and pick up a cous cous salad and bottle of water – virgin trains don't exactly sell health food on their trains, although the coffee is fairtrade.

To my joy aboard the Grand Central – not only do they have comfy, wide seats and games you can play en route (I am sat with a chess board in front of me and also Cluedo) – but there is also free wireless – this is not something I am familiar with on Virgin Trains – where you have to pay for wireless access (so of course people buy mobile wireless access – smart people always find a way round something). Something else occurs to me – competition for customers has probably led to Grand Central having wider seats and free wireless. Could a next level of train service be socially enterprising? Where every penny goes back into improving the service to the customer? If a train network had multiple benefits – what might that successful business look like to the traveller – faster, cheaper, reliable, healthier food options, entertainment?

Finally - the grand central train arrived ten minutes early... how often does that happen?