Chiltern Railways 'simple fares' - updated

Chiltern have announced the fare structure that will accompany the launch of Mainline in September. Basically, the Monday to Friday offering will be £75 Anytime Return, £50 Off-Peak Return, and £25 Super off-peak return. However, as ever, the devil is in the detail!

First, the good news...

• The Anytime fare is reduced by £10 - of course, regular readers of my blog know that there was NEVER any need to purchase the former £85 fare
• Monday to Friday travellers FROM London to Birmingham can now use the £25 super off-peak return fare on any train up to the 15.37 departure and then from the 19.15 departure. Given the new timings of Mainline and the 'new' stock, this must be very attractive if Chiltern can find a way of cracking the inbuilt Virgin-bias of the National Rail Enquiry system
• Monday to Friday travellers FROM Birmingham to London can now use the £25 super off-peak return fare on any train FROM the 9.55 departure from Moor Street and can return from Marylebone on any train up to the 15.37 departure and then from the 19.15 departure.
• Weekend travel will still be at the bargain rate of £25 super off-peak return in either direction

Now the bad news...

• If, like me, you are a regular user of the £33 off-peak return fare because of the 10.30 arrival time in London AND freedom to use any train back from Marylebone then you are going to be dismayed by the increase of £17 to the new fare of £50... (My thanks to Tony Hickman for pointing out that the fare will be valid on arrivals into Marylebone after 10am M-F - apologies to Chiltern for this misunderstanding)
• Likewise, travellers from Marylebone who used Chiltern in the afternoon peak in preference to Virgin's extortionate Anytime fare will also be dismayed... (However, LondonMidland's new September timetable might be attractive to them as LM-only tickets do not have an evening peak restriction from Euston)

The only amelioration is that the new fares won't be implemented until Monday 8th August so until that date the £33 fare can still be bought in advance and will still be honoured. Plan ahead whilst you can. 

LondonMidland service improvements

The August issue of Modern Railways carries the news that LondonMidland off-peak services between New Street and Euston are to be improved from Monday 5th September. From that date, 3 direct services an hour will run Monday to Friday off-peak instead of the current one. Returning from Euston, there will be two direct services an hour off-peak.

In detail...
Birmingham New Street to London Euston (via Northampton): from 0833 to 1553, departures will be at 13, 33 and 53 minutes past the hour Monday to Friday. The fastest train is the 13 mins past at 2hours 14mins, followed by the 33 mins past at 2hrs 16 mins, and then the 53 mins past which takes 2hrs 24mins.

London Euston to Birmingham New Street (via Northampton): from 0813 to 1546, departures will be at 13 and 46 minutes past the hour Monday to Friday. The fastest train is the 13 mins past at 2 hours 3mins, whilst the 46 mins past takes 2 hours 15 mins.

Fares remain very competitive at £26 off-peak day return / £27 off-peak monthly return whilst advance fares start at £6 single standard and £16 First Class. Don't forget that there is NO peak restrictions for LondonMidland only tickets back from Euston in the evening!

Birmingham to London using Chiltern Railways

As ever, the former First Class carriage of the ex-Wrexham & Shropshire stock was almost empty as Chiltern passengers - brought up on one class fits all - hurried on down the platform to the standard class end of the train... Clearly good for those of us who like to work on the train except that the sockets weren't working! The ex-W&S train manager tried resetting them but without success.

Still the WiFi was working at its usual impressive speed, and the buffet car was open (though using the catering trolley as the staff had yet to finish their training in using the installed equipment!). Departure on time, and a good run through to Bicester. From Bicester, it is non-stop to Marylebone so I moved to Standard Class to find a table with working sockets. WiFi was still available in Standard but at a noticeable slower rate (as was the case in W&S days).

Arrival on time at Marylebone so, apart from one niggle, Chiltern delivered again.

Alas, the same niggle struck me on the 1700 return Clubman from Marylebone as the sockets were not working in the leading car (probably, as was pointed out by a regular traveller, because the engine under it was not working). As Chiltern services are Driver-only until Banbury, there is noone to tell - well,  actually there is: @chilternrailway on Twitter but my tweet received no reply!

Despite this train being a popular service to Banbury, a table was to be had so some work as possible before my laptop died... No WiFi of course, and no catering - wonder if Chiltern Mainline services will be better provisioned? Good run saw us arrive early - as ever - into Snow Hill.

Birmingham to London - a 'fare' comparison

Last week, I needed to be in London for 1pm on Wednesday and to be back around 7pm the same day - a good chance to optimise my travel experience for cost and comfort...

For walk-on standard class fares, the options are:

• LondonMidland both ways for £26 - full flexibility on time of travel back from London that day (£27 if flexibility over the month is required)
• Chiltern Railways both ways for £33 - full flexibility on time of travel back from London for a month
• Virgin Trains out but Chiltern back for £44.30 - (peak restrictions apply out of Euston but not Marylebone) valid for a month
• Virgin Trains both ways for £117.80 - OP single out; Anytime single return

Those who read my blog regularly will not be surprised that I plumped for the Chiltern Railways both ways fare, not least because it gave me another chance to sample the ex-First Class carriage on the 1055 departure out of Moor Street...