Virgin out / Chiltern back

Another chance to use Virgin's bargain First Class Advance Single fare of £22 yesterday by taking the 11.50 Pendolino to London Euston.

Birmingham's First Class lounge was quiet when I arrived at 11.30 despite the fact that the 11.30 Pendolino to London had been cancelled due to problems at Watford. Clearly, this wasn't inconveniencing many First Class passengers... Plenty of Independents and Financial Times available, along with coffee / tea, soft drinks, and snacks such as crisps and shortbreads.

The quietness was reflected on the actual train, though it was clear that Standard was going to be pretty busy. Plenty of tables in quiet coach H to chose from... and working sockets this time! Wi-Fi seemed to be working fine too. However, it has to be said that the antimacassars were looking rather limp and tired.

Tea/coffee offered after Birmingham International, with a snack served after Rugby. The Ham and Picallily roll was very tasty, accompanied by an apple, orange juice and another coffee.

Despite an additional stop at Milton Keynes, arrival was on time in Euston. So another good run at a very good price BUT yet again no ticket checks either on the train or at the stations. Don't Virgin care?

Returned on the 17.00 Clubman from London Marylebone. The walk-on fare for this service is £33 return compared to £149 for Virgin's 17.03 from Euston and £30 for LondonMidland's 17.13 from that station. By paying Virgin an extra £116 pounds, you save half-an-hour on the journey time, have an apportunity to pay £5 to use the Wi-Fi, and can get refreshments at the shop BUT you are not guaranteed a table or power socket. Saving £3 on LondonMidland means only a slightly longer journey time BUT in commuter style seating with no tables or power socckets and no Wi-Fi or catering.

So the Clubman offers best value for money: tables, power sockets, and proper seating (pity about the lack of Wi-Fi and catering, through the AMT bar is by the barriers). YET Chiltern still seem to have a problem getting this message across to Birmingham bound passengers on the evidence of last night: busy train to Banbury, relatively busy to Warwick Parkway, then quiet after Solihull.

One hopes that the news of Network Rail's takeover of Evergreen 3 doesn't presage the beginning of the end of the Chiltern story...