Two Together Railcard

Rail users in the West Midlands are being used to test a new Railcard - Two Together - which, for an annual fee of £28 gives 1/3rd off Standard and First Anytime, Off-Peak, and Advance tickets for the two over-16s named (and pictured) on the card.

To qualify, one of the two named individuals must have an address in the B, CV, DY, WS, or WW postcode districts. One key restriction: the discounted tickets bought with this railcard are NOT valid for travel between 04:30 and 09:30 Monday to Friday. 

Using the railcard will allow Virgin passengers to travel together with a discount on the 0930  and 0950 Pendolinos Birmingham to London using Anytime tickets BUT NOT off-peak tickets. It seems that Virgin are not treating this railcard like the long-established ones which, of course, give off-peak travel on any Virgin service... However, at least you can apply the discount when booking online with Virgin which is more than can be done currently on both LondonMidland and Chiltern Railways sites. Come on guys, keep up!

Sorry, I still don't 'get' HS2...

On Friday, over a very enjoyable lunch, I had an illuminating conversation with a professional railway operator on the subject of HS2. I admitted that I failed to understand why the railway companies were so keen on HS2 when it was so costly, so distant in timescale, and seemed to me to offer so few tangible benefits.

Very kindly, he explained that the core of the railway's enthusiasm for HS2 was the fact that it provided an answer to the current and projected WCML congestion south of Rugby. There was, he avowed, no other way forward. Pressing him further, he seemed to suggest that the railways were still scarred by the WCML Route Modernisations of the 1960s and 70s and by the WCML Upgrade of the 'Noughties' and that noone wanted to go through that again. Finally, he suggested that Birmingham was an irrelevance as a destination and that the prize was capacity relief not end-to-end journey times.

Whilst the above reasons for HS2 (which are my interpretations of the conversation) are no doubt valid they still do not answer my key objections...
1) Why are we planning for 2026 using 2010 assumptions about growth in railway traffic when technological, especially communication, developments are now happening at such a pace that we can't foresee how then worlds of work and leisure will look in 2026.
2) Why are we assuming that these same technological and communication developments won't  increase line capacity dramatically through better signalling control, route planning, and rolling stock capabilities
3) Why are billions to be spent when millions will bring immediate capacity enhancements at key pinch points on the WCML and on the alternative freight and passenger routes (Chiltern Mainline showing the way here).
4) Why the stubborn belief that the extra speed will benefit Birmingham rather than suck yet more jobs down to London as Birmingham becomes a dormitory city for the capital.

Sorry, HS2 seems to me to be simply one of those grandiose schemes dreamt up and supported by those who know that they won't have to pick up the bill as they will have all retired by 2026!

Still a Virgin? Take two..

Friday saw more lunch / evening engagements in London so another chance to check out Virgin's Pendolino service from Birmingham New Street to London Euston and return.

Success this time in making the 10.10 train. This service starts at Wolverhampton so was fairly busy on arrival in Birmingham. Plenty of seats to be had however, even though it is the first 'off-peak' service of the day. I had a reserved seat in Coach A but it wasn't a table as I had requested... fortunately, a pair of fellow passengers who were seated at a table took pity on me and moved. Memo to Virgin - if the power point option is NOT checked on the reservation system, please do not allocate table seats when they are not needed!

Departure on time, this time without the complete litany of announcements that make Virgin journeys so annoying - still bad enough with just the automated ones however. Shop announcement made upon departure and cappuccino and flapjack secured once again.

The socket at the table was working BUT the WiFi wasn't (third time unlucky in my case). A tweet to @virgintrains gained the standard response of the 0845 number. When I asked for the landline number, it couldn't be provided (reminder, it is 0207 0966966 and choose Option 3) but then a response came that the service was down altogether. So at least the Twitter approach is worth pursuing.

Arrival into London Euston was on time BUT yet again no ticket check at any point on the journey. Revenue protection isn't one of Virgin's strong points...

However... on the way back, the barrier at Euston's platform 5 was actually manned and my ticket for the 20.23 properly checked. Amazing!

For what seemed to be a busy train, Coach E was surprisingly empty and I could have got a table seat if I had tried hard enough (was using Coach E as the reservation system claimed that I couldn't reserve a seat on this service - was it full or do Virgin not do reservations on Friday night services?). Even better, WiFi was working though it did take some coaxing into life. Of course, it cost me £4 for an hour but at least the download speed was good. Interestingly, I could only connect one device at a time - something that isn't the case on the equivalent free service on Chiltern.

Coach E sits next to First Class coach G in the Pendolino formation. Stretching my legs, I was surprised to find a completely empty Coach G. Clearly Virgin are not doing a particularly good job at selling off  First Class seats. Alas, I am old enough to remember BR's experiment with 'Silver Standard' and wonder if Virgin aren't missing a trick here. Why not sell off the Coach G seats on the train to walk-on fare passengers as at the weekend on the basis of availability (using the reservation system to fill Coaches J-H)? I would happily have paid £10 extra for the use of a table and some light refreshments served at my seat...

Arrival into New Street on time, so another 'as it should happen' Virgin journey. I just wish they would do more to make the experience enjoyable but then the Company is very successful as it is so why bother, I suppose...

Finally, for both of my recent return trips, I have been using the web-based walk-on fares which allow mix and match between off-peak (out after 10am) and super off-peak (return after 8pm) fares, meaning  have done both journeys for £34.40 each time. Alas, it is likely that Virgin will withdraw the super off-peak fare from the 9th October, so be quick if you want to take advantage of this saving.

Still a Virgin? Taking the Pendolinos on the New Street to Euston run

Regular readers of my blog will know that I favour Chiltern for Birmingham to London travel as I find that the working environment is very pleasant. If I travel Virgin, I try to book in advance in First Class in an effort to replicate this Chiltern experience at not too great a cost.

Alas, however, there are days when both timing and cost win out and I have to travel Virgin Standard using walk-on fares. Yesterday was such a day.

I had hoped to catch the 10.10 Pendolino service from Birmingham New Street to London Euston, but, as I feared, was delayed by work and got away only in time for the 10.30. This didn't matter as I was using walk-on tickets, and, of course Virgin's VHF timetable and fast journey time gave me plenty of leeway.

The 10.30 was sitting in Platform 5 but was still downloading the reservation details when I turned up at 10.20. There followed a 5 minute wait until I could be sure of my table seat in Coach A - why can't Virgin download this information more quickly? Settled in my table and plugged my laptop in - power on! Tried to attach to the WiFi - not available... (see my post http://birmingham2london.blogspot.com/2011/09/virgin-trains-wifi-service.html). Quiet coach A quiet in terms of passengers too as was Coach B - amused to see the 'reservation' syndrome in Coach C however... you don't have to sit in the reserved seat if you're travelling on an Advance ticket!

Lots of announcements from both the automated voices and the train manager before and after the on-time departure - you certainly get information overload from Virgin - followed by a shop announcement. Went to the  Shop for a cappuccino and flapjack - very nice and not too expensive... No water to wash hands in the Coach A toilet however.

Good journey and arrival in Euston on time. However, no ticket check at any point on my journey  - don't Virgin care about revenue protection?

Coming back, I joined the fairly busy and slightly delayed 20.23. Coach A was relatively quiet and a table was free. Power BUT no WiFi again... Seemed to be fewer announcements but perhaps I was just inured to them... Train manager checked tickets after Milton Keynes but, of course, couldn't help with the non-working WiFi. No water to wash hands in the Coach A toilet again...

Arrival into New Street on time.

Overall, a typically efficient Virgin experience which could be better but which achieves in terms of timing what it promises. Compared to Chiltern and LondonMidland - see comparison chart for alternatives for yesterday's journeys - it is more expensive and lacks 'ambience' in Standard Class but sometimes speed will out! So, am I still a Virgin? Yes, when it suits me...

Virgin Trains WiFi service

Yesterday, I travelled to & from London on the Virgin Pendolino service from Birmingham to London and return (of which more later).

In both directions, I was frustrated by the inability to connect to the WiFi whilst sitting in Standard Class Coach A. On the way down, I complained via Twitter and did get a response back from @virgintrains (on the way back, the team had gone home...) but alas it was pretty useless, suggesting that I contact an 0845 number  (from a mobile phone in the Quiet Zone - I don't think so).

This morning, however, I have had a very useful conversation with the third-party company (Nomad) that provides the support desk for the T-Mobile WiFi provided on Virgin's trains... Apparently, yesterday, two Pendolino sets did have WiFi with problems (now rectified). More usefully, I have been given the more customer friendly way of contacting them...

Instead of ringing 0845 287 2149 - which on my Orange mobile business account would have cost me 12.4p / minute - ring 0207 0966966 and choose Option 3. The team will be able to check whether the WiFi is in fact available, and can provide the direct IP address of the server to enter into the browser URL bar.

Better still, if, like me, you travel in the Quiet Zone in order to be able to work, they will take your mobile number and provide support by text...

NOW, why can't Virgin Customer Support be this helpful AND, more importantly, why can't the Train Managers carry this information with them???

Why I disagree with Adrian Shooter on HS2

Yesterday Phil Tonks broadcast his interview with Adrian Shooter. In it, he asked Adrian - a well-known supporter of HS2 - about his views on HS2. Not surprisingly, Adrian said he was in favour and gave two key reasons: first, Evergreen 3 had proved that Chiltern was running to line capacity; and secondly, that HS2 would spin-off economic benefits from London...

I am not a supporter of HS2 and I didn't find Adrian's arguments convincing. Take capacity... one of the weaknesses of Evergreen 3 is that it failed to reinstate the through tracks at stations such as Bicester North, Beaconsfield, and High Wycombe. Indeed, at Bicester North, the Up platform was actually moved rather than install points and a new line (for cost reasons apparently). Already, Chiltern are reaping what they have sown as Mainline trains are delayed by stopping trains failing to get to their refuge sidings as timetabled.

Further north, much of the four track infrastructure between Dorridge and Tyesley still exists, providing further opportunities for capacity improvements. And of course, more could be done at Wembley.

What surprises me most about the capacity argument is the seeming lack of faith in the development of signalling and train control infrastructure. HS2 is a long-term project YET it seems that the rail industry believes that the situation in 2026 will be that of 2011 when it is more than likely that capacity increases will come from leaps forward in signalling technology.

As for the economic argument... Chiltern's own fare structure gives lie to it. To even tempt people in London to travel to Birmingham, the company is forced to price its morning peak trains from Marylebone at £25 return whilst pricing the Birmingham London flow at £75. The reality is that work will flow from Birmingham to London at an even faster rate with HS2 as Birmingham becomes simply a dormitory city to London...

Clearly, I have not got Adrian's 41 year track record of success in the rail industry, but I have got 35 years' experience of working in the UK 'regions'. HS2 is an expensive white elephant of a project which will NOT benefit Birmingham.

Miscellany

Chiltern are seeking feedback on the Mainline timetable - complete the short survey at http://chilternrailways.co.uk/news/tell-us-what-you-think-about-our-timetable

Chiltern are also co-sponsoring the Style Birmingham Live weekend (24-26 September). Thursday's Birmingham Post has a Makeover competition which includes five Chiltern return tickets in the prize package. Hurry though as the closing date is Monday (12th). Don't forget the Birmingham Fun Day at Moor Street station on Sunday (11th).

Not to be outdone, LondonMidland is sponsoring the Birmingham Food Fest (14-23 October). Not clear what they will be offering though the Birmingham Post has suggested that canapés will be served to commuters (!). What seems to be clear is that it won't involve any on-board catering...

Finally, Virgin are busy reminding everyone that they are still the fastest between Birmingham and London with their 'Retro' campaign. The problem is: they may be the fastest but do they actually offer value for money to their non-railcard holding Standard Class passengers. Planning to find out next Wednesday...

Chiltern Railways Mainline Day 4

Yesterday, courtesy of Chiltern's Mainlineforapound promotion, I was able to travel on two of Chiltern's 'nice and fast' services for the princely sum of £2 return. Going up to London, I joined the 0855 from Birmingham Moor Street. Coming back, I was on the 1630 from London Marylebone. Both, of course, are Clubman services.

The 0855 starts as a commuter service from Kidderminster at 0809 and so was reasonably busy on arrival. No problem getting a table seat however, despite the fact that the service was a 3 carriage, rather than 4 carriage, set. As ever, quite a few commuters left at Solihull but London bound passengers joined. Then a flood of people at the last stop before Marylebone - Warwick Parkway - as this is first train on which the £50 return fare (as opposed to the £75 return fare) is valid. Still, no standing passengers.

One of the Mainline enhancements is the provision of free WiFi in Clubmans, to go with the power sockets and tables - in theory making a good working environment. Alas, the WiFi seems to be taking time to bed down on the Clubmans: availability yesterday was erratic, and Chiltern haven't managed to solve the 'black' hole in mobile coverage between Aynho Junction and Bicester North. Nevertheless, some use was possible and I was amused to see Google ask me if I wanted to change to Google.se as it had detected that I was using a Swedish service (Chiltern's WiFi provider hails from there)...

Another enhancement is going to be improved catering trolleys. Alas, yesterday's was an old style one and took an age to traverse the train (having been loaded at Moor Street). In fact, I think that it was as we were passing through High Wycombe that finally a full service had been provided. Still, the prices aren't bad - £1.60 for tea / £2 for coffee - but you don't get a 'pot' on the Clubmans.

Slightly disconcerting to find that the disabled toilet appeared not to be working - in fact, the door lock, though working, was failing to display 'engaged' outside, giving the impression that the door had failed. Still, better than the other way round I suppose.

Arrival into Marylebone was around 5 minutes late (ie 98 rather than the booked 93 mins) as a local train got in the way at Princes Risborough. Overall, though, for a pound, the service can't be faulted!

Coming back, my journey was enlivened by the companionship of a member of the Railway Performance Society who was timing the Clubman run for the logs kept by the Society. One of Chiltern's sources of pride on Mainline is the work done at Northolt Junction to raise the line speed there. My companion wasn't disappointed: the Clubman recording 100mph as it breasted the rise into South Ruislip.

A downside of the improved opportunities for Clubmans (and indeed Silver trains) to show their paces is the inability of the old Turbos to get out of the way as timetabled. Good running was marred at Gerrard's Cross, High Wycombe, and Bicester North by the failure to clear the main line promptly, but then the railways would run alot more smoothly if passengers wouldn't insist on getting off the trains at their stations... Nevertheless it does appear that the Mainline timetable is very tightly planned and thus open to delays very easily.

Alas, my own journey was marred by the failure of the WiFi altogether on this set though at least the power points were working. No catering trolley of course, being an evening service. One wonders how the Silver trains are doing in this respect.

Arrival into Birmingham Moor Street was 4 minutes down (94 mins for the journey as opposed to the booked 90) BUT of course arrival into Snow Hill was on time as the 16.30 is booked to stand for 4 mins at Moor Street!

Lots of quibbles I know but overall Mainline is going to be worth it, I'm sure

Chiltern Railways Mainline day 1 part 2

Declaration of interest: as with part 1 of this blog posting, the journey back from London Marylebone on the 1807 yesterday was courtesy of Chiltern Railways BUT I did pay for the pot of tea (see below) at £1.60...

Among the guests of Adrian Shooter on the journey up to London were fellow tweeters Phil Tonks (@philtonks2) and Chris Bates (@chrisbates3). Phil recorded an interview with Thomas Abelman (Chiltern's Marketing Director) for his next Bridge Radio show so had to retire to the pub to recuperate but Chris and I found ourselves, along with 2 others, in the Business Zone of the 1807 'Silver' train from Marylebone back to Moor Street...

Though the 1807 is a 'Silver' train with first stop Warwick Parkway, it actually runs through to Kidderminster in a time of 140mins. Presumably Chiltern are testing the market for fast trains from the Worcestershire hinterland yet to do so, they have had to cut out the Dorridge stop... and the Leamington stop...Who would be a train / business planner!

Back to the journey... the Business Zone branding is interesting as the Antimacassars simply state 'Business Zone' with the word Mainline underneath, and the carriage window destination stickers simply say 'Mainline.

Clearly there is a more spacious feel to a carriage with 2 + 1 tables as opposed to the 2+2 arrangement of Standard Class, and it is nice to see the tables set with cups and saucers and to have a pot of tea served with real milk. BUT is it really necessary to charge £1.60 even if that is comparatively good value (Chiltern are adamant that their market research shows that business people do not want 'free' items pushing up the basic fare).

As a business person, I was very disappointed that the power sockets weren't working (but at least Chiltern staff try to do something about it unlike other TOC staff) and that the free WiFi was very intermittent. No doubt both matters will improve....

More worryingly for Chiltern is the lack of awareness of the business zone - no indication at Marylebone as we boarded the train, no announcements about upgrading, and a lack of clarity as to the role of the dedicated host. So I was the only occupant of the carriage from Warwick Parkway! All first day teething issues one hopes.

Talking of teething problems, the new signalling around Northolt Junction played up and we lost 15mins on the journey overall. Still, the travellers waiting at Moor Street for a train to Rowley Regis were delighted to try out the Business Zone for their trip (though the catering staff leave the train at Moor Street).

Finally, Chris Bates is the Chair of the Cherwell Valley Rail Users Group and sits on Chiltern's passenger board. He is in regular contact with Chiltern's management team, and clearly has views on how Chiltern should look after all their customers. To know more, contact him through his Tweeter feed or email him on chrisjbates AT btinternet.com

Chiltern Railways Mainline - day 1 part 1

Declaration of interest: up to now, my blog posts have arisen from travel paid for by myself. However, today's parts 1 and 2 come courtesy of Chiltern Railways who were kind enough to invite me to join Adrian Shooter's afternoon tea party on the 1555 departure from Birmingham Moor Street yesterday, and then gave me a pass for the 1807 return journey from London Marylebone...

The 1555 is a Mainline 'Silver' train (ie loco-hauled Mark 3 coaches). Afternoon was served in Coach B, with Coach A (the Business Zone) being used by the caterers and Coaches C - E left to the actual fare-paying passengers...

The train set had been fully refurbished in terms of branding and livery but, of course, had not yet had it's slam doors replaced. Apart from the amazing comfort and facilities of this standard class as compared to almost every other offering on the Birmingham to London route, the big plus is the smooth and quiet ride of the stock.

Adrian Shooter started proceedings with a speech of welcome which touched upon the achievement to date of Evergreen 3 as shown by Mainline and on Chiltern's plans for the future. Then it was down to the food - excellent - and conversation with Chiltern senior staff. Everything was up for discussion, ranging from the internal signage to the 'Expresso Bar' to the development of business cases for Oxford and Stratford to the iniquities (my word) of the way that information about Birmingham to London services is made available by certain parties within the railway industry.

Clearly, Chiltern are determined to make further inroads into the Birmingham to London and London to Birmingham travel flows. Good news for those of us who actually like competition within the rail industry!

My thanks to Emma (the wonderful Chiltern Tweeter) and Nicola (the marvellous Chiltern press officer) for their hospitality, and good luck to the team behind Mainline (dare I say you might need it). Businesses in Birmingham wanting to develop their travel portfolio for trips to London should contact John-James Davidson at Moor Street (John.davidson@chilternrailways.co.uk)

Virgin strike back...

Virgin Trains are busy reminding everyone that they are still the fastest route from Birmingham to London with a Fly Virgin Trains promotion over the next two weeks. An associated Facebook competition is offering a trip to London for two nights for two... Clear where Virgin think the market flow is!

Chiltern Mainline £1 promotion

Today's launch of Chiltern Mainline has been accompanied by much marketing activity in Birmingham. The Metro had a four page wrapround, and leafleters were out in force in Birmingham city centre. The main thrust of the promotion is a "Try us for £1" offer redeemable through onepoundpromotion.co.uk (Metro) or mainlineforapound.co.uk (leaflet). Both addresses actually resolve to http://chilternrailways.co.uk/%C2%A31offer

The offer lasts until 19th September, and, as at Monday lunchtime, there was generous availability of the £1 tickets... However, unlike the LondonMidland promotion, these are Advance tickets which can only be used on the booked trains.

Even so, worth a shot!

Don't forget LondonMidland!

In all the excitment about the launch of Chiltern Mainline, it is easy to forget that LondonMidland are improving the Birmingham to London / London to Birmingham service too... From today (Sunday 4th September) there is an hourly Sunday Service each way, and from tomorrow, there will be 3 trains an hour off-peak south and two north Monday to Saturday.

To celebrate, LondonMidland are offering a 20% discount on all First and Standard single, return and Travelcard tickets from the West Midlands to London (and vice versa) for the first 20 days of the new service if the tickets are bought through this online link - don't forget to add Via Northampton to your search.

LondonMidland fares are already the cheapest between the two cities - the discount makes them even better value!