Alas, not the 16.33 from London Marylebone

Regular readers will remember that I wrote in praise of the 16.33 from London Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street in January.

From Monday 14th February, departure of this service has been brought forward to 16.30, thus taking the path of the former W&S service to Wrexham. Yesterday, I had an opportunity to see what other changes had occurred now that the Wrexham & Shropshire is no more.

At first, omens seemed good. The train was made up of W&S stock and, as before, the de-classed First Class carriage was at the Birmingham end of the train so was not too busy. Staff were wearing W&S uniforms too...

BUT there were newspapers left on the seats, and the toilet - a source of much pride to the W&S - was not flushed, the basin was wet, and there were paper towels (!) instead of the hand-dryer ... Worse still was the scanty stocking of the buffet - very little on display and no menu, though I have to admit the prices were reasonable (£1.40 for tea) - and the lack of working Wi-Fi.

As I presume that the stock had come from Wembley depot after 'servicing', I was surprised at how far standards had slipped.

As before, the W&S train manager wasn't checking tickets, and as before a Chiltern ticket inspector joined at Banbury (happy are those who travel from Bicester to Banbury...).

The former First Class carriage is a pleasure to travel and work in... and, as a fellow passenger commented, is surely worth a supplement if this meant a return to W&S standards. So come on Chiltern... one class fits all has worked for you without a doubt BUT surely it is time to experiment with an enhanced service for your long distance passengers!