Saturday 11 May 2013

A false alarm with a Silver (Set) lining

Shortly after 10.30am last Wednesday, the new look Birmingham New Street resounded with the public announcement 'This is an emergency - please evacuate the station immediately'. As it turned out, it was a false alarm - see Birmingham Mail story - but as a prospective traveller on the +London Midland 10.54 to London Euston I was faced with a dilemma: did I go to Moor Street for the 10.55 +Chiltern Railways Silver Set to London Marylebone?

Regular readers will know that I needed no real excuse to transfer my allegiance so off I went through the new access tunnel and along the 'big green wall' to reach Moor Street in good time to see the arrival of the Silver Set from London. I have sung the praises of the Silver Sets many times but I still love travelling on them, especially in Business Zone with the friendly staff and endless complimentary (non-alcoholic) refreshments not to mention the free WiFi. A recent bonus on the 10.55 is the availability of hot meals which allow you to start the afternoon in London well-fed - on Wednesday, I chose the Chinese-style chicken with rice (amazing value at £3.50).

Having travelled down Super Off-Peak (£27.50 return), I returned on the first SOP that evening: the 1915 Clubman service (or should I say Clubmans as it is currently made up of two sets, one of which is left behind at Birmingham Snow Hill as the other travels onto Kidderminster). Clearly, Clubmans can't match Silver Sets for comfort - though they are fine to travel on - but they are supposed to match the facilities (well, not refreshments as Chiltern don't believe there is a market for a trolley service at that time of night).

Alas, the WiFi on the lead Clubman wasn't working. Of course, there is not a train manager on departures from Marylebone until Banbury so there was noone to ask to reset it. Tried Tweeting @chilternrailway but got the standard response of ring the 0845 support number (from a mobile - I don't think so) or emailing chiltern.support@icomera.com (but there is no WiFi!). VERY frustrating. In the end, the WiFi briefly sprang to life at Leamington only to die again by Dorridge.

Cannot understand why Icomera don't run a Twitter support account for Chiltern - can't they afford a mobile phone? The company's web site says 'We’d like to hear from you' but the reality would seem to suggest otherwise. Shame as generally Chiltern themselves are responsive


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