Travelling First Class on the West Coast Main Line

In all the furore about the West Coast Rail Franchise fiasco, it is easy to forget that the existing train operating companies provide an excellent service on the Birmingham to London route and at a very reasonable fare if you can book in advance. It is also too easy to blame them when their services are disrupted by circumstances outside of their (and Network Rail's) control...

Yesterday, LondonMidland transported me efficiently to London Euston on the 0953 from Birmingham New Street for the princely sum of £16 First Class. As I write, the same journey tomorrow would cost £20, then on Thursday, £18, and Friday onwards £16 so it isn't necessary to plan too far in advance to benefit from cheap fares... (the equivalent Virgin Trains arrival into Euston - the 1050 from New Street - has an advance First Class fare of £39 for tomorrow onwards).

Coming back, I travelled in a virtually empty 2103 Pendolino First Class 'Quiet' coach for £23.50. Again this fare is available from tomorrow onwards! Of course, when things go wrong as they did yesterday, having a first class ticket at least gives you the comfort of the Euston First Class lounge in which to wait.

Luckily for me, the 2103 yesterday was the first train north to depart on time after the massive disruption caused by the fatality at Apsley. Beforehand, it was fascinating to see the stream of information being 'tweeted' by the TOC and NRE accounts, and to see the efforts of the staff at Euston to keep people informed.

As the railway companies and staff prove time and again that they can deliver, one just wishes that the politicians would leave them alone to get on with the job!