Virgin train driver forced to turn back after getting lost

Leave Birmingham, head north for about 300 miles, and you should be somewhere near Edinburgh. Simple. But apparently not simple enough for Virgin Trains.

Soon after leaving Britain's second city on Sunday bound for Scotland's capital, one of the company's train drivers was forced to turn back – because he did not know the way. The company, the scapegoat of choice for a large section of Britain's commuters, said yesterday it was investigating whether their drivers were reading their travel plans properly.

The problems, which resulted in a 45-minute delay, started after a seemingly uneventful leg of the journey from Bristol to Birmingham.

But as soon as the train left Birmingham New Street at 5.35pm, with hundreds of passengers on board, the troubles began. Travellers said the train stopped a mile out of the station where it sat waiting for about 10 minutes before a message came over the tannoy.

"He told us that he was very sorry but the driver did not know his way to Derby and that we would have to go back to the station," said a passenger, Chris Bates. "At this point he sounded very flustered and muttered that our driver needed to ask another driver at the station the way.

"A huge groan came over the carriage. I am sure there is probably a funny side to the story but nobody on the train was laughing."

Virgin said the problems were caused by Sunday maintenance work which meant the train was to be diverted from its normal route on to Derby, the next stop.

However, when the driver realised he would have to go via Tamworth and did not know the way, he turned tail and returned to Birmingham.

A Virgin Trains spokesman, Jim Rowe, said: "As soon as he saw from the signalling that he was heading along a route he didn't know, he quite correctly put the train back to New Street to request he have another conductor who knew the route to accompany him.

"This does occasionally happen on Sundays when there is maintenance and engineering work. I think we need to look at the situation to see how notices are read and whether drivers' instructions are clear."