Ghost train

Travelling back from the Lake District on Saturday was a bit strange - first having to take a replacement bus to Preston was a bit of a pain (I don't always travel well in busses), then getting to Preston station had to depart from platform 12 (according to trainline) ... there isn't a platform 12 at Preston.
Found the correct platform, and a seemingly normal Virgin intercity train ... except no destination information on the train. Getting on the train there was no-one there. And that's the way the carriage stayed all the way to Crewe - meanwhile the train went a less direct route than I expected (visiting Chester as well as Warrington and Wigan). Still it got there, just missing my onward connection.
How often do you see a Saturday afternoon Virgin train Preston to Birmingham that's almost empty?