Q. Would Virgin Airlines allow one of it's planes to fly with bits missing?
A. Exactly!
So why is this Glasgow arrival at Euston last night in such a scruffy state - a sight increasingly typical of Pendolinos.
Perhaps VT and Alstom no longer care about their corporate image.
But it's the sort of thing that bothers passengers who have the choice of taking the plane.
UPDATE: This from West Coast Maintainer...
Your correspondent suggests passengers would have been unimpressed at boarding a Pendolino with a missing coupler hatch.
As a defender of the passengers I presume he'd have been happier for it to run empty to the right depot for repair whilst the service was cancelled?
I think perhaps passengers would be happier to know that their train was going to run, even if a little ugly, rather than see it set off without them only to be told "we thought you'd rather wait for the next one rather than suffer the humiliation of sitting in a train with a plastic door missing."
Pendolinos are certified to run with the coupler hatches open, or removed, at line speed.