South with LondonMidland / North with Virgin Trains

Regular readers will have realised that I have become quite fond of the +London Midland change at Rugby for a 'fast' service from Birmingham to London - fast being sub two hours rather than the meander round Northampton of the through services south...

Partly this is because of the Desiros which ride so much better than the Pendolinos at speed and partly because there is just no comparison in cost, first or standard class... Yesterday I was using up the return half of an off-peak LM return which had allowed me to leave London earlier in the month during the evening peak for the princely sum of £28 standard class. +Chiltern Railways would have charged £50 (though see my post on the use of Network Railcard to reduce this) whilst Virgin charge £158 (though NOT to Railcard holders who benefit from off-peak fares on all Virgin Train services...).

Of course, LM don't offer WiFi or power points but there is usually a table to work on for the 56 minute journey from Rugby and even my ancient laptop battery can last that long (plus don't forget to take a refreshment stop at Travelines in the Rugby station booking hall!).

However, coming back mid-evening it has to be Virgin as both Chiltern Railways and LondonMidland both fail to provide reasonable journey times back to Birmingham after 8pm... Virgin's clock-face timetable continues to deliver 84 minute timings until after 10pm.

Fortunately, the Virgin mid-evening trains tend to have very good advance First Class fares: £23.50 single was the one I used last night. Not only does this fare give you excellent accommodation on the train with free WiFi and refreshments but importantly gives access to Euston's First Class Lounge which at least makes waiting for the train bearable (one of the few benefits of HS2 will be the revamping of Euston...).

Having said this, I'm glad I don't pay Virgin's exorbitant First Class Walk-on fares for what you get. The First Class lounge is looking so tired and careworn and scruffy whilst the refreshments are minimal. Come on Virgin - don't wait for HS2 to sort out what you offer to your passengers who pay you so much for the privelege of travelling with you!