February 1956 - the past is a foreign country...

The ABC Railway Guide February 1956

One of the unexpected delights of Christmas was the discovery of a February 1956 edition of The ABC Railway Guide in a box of timetables donated by a friend and passed on by my sister-in-law...

Naturally, I was intrigued by the Birmingham-London service offered fifty-seven years ago. As can be seen from the page reproduced below, even then the Snow Hill service was described as 'Another Route'...

Of course, the key difference one notices is the lack of trains...From Euston, there were ten trains north whilst Paddington offered eleven. No early morning trains, no clock-face departures, and no late night returns (though both routes offered a post midnight service). Timings were significantly slower - 2 hours being the best on the Euston-New Street run and 2 hours 7 mins on the Paddington-Snow Hill equivalent.


Fares are illuminating. The First Class return fare was 52/4 whilst the Third Class was 34/10 According to the Historic Inflation Calculator the equivalent fare now should be £54.03 for First Class and £35.97 for Third

Finally, it would have been fun to 'blog' about the 1956 sleeping car service from Snow Hill which departed at 1am Tuesday to Sunday and reached Paddington at 5.10am. I wonder how long one was allowed to 'sleep-in' before being turfed out?

ABC Railway Guide Feb 1956 London-Birmingham

Finally, just to note that the +ABC Railway Guide is still in evidence as a web site

Talking to Alan Riley, Head of On-Train Services, Chiltern Railways

On  Monday I had the opportunity to chat to Alan Riley (pictured below), Head of On-Train Services for Chiltern Railways. Alan has come to Chiltern after spells with Virgin Trains and First Great Western so is ideally placed to help Chiltern Mainline 'mix-it' with the big boys... As ever, the comments below are my take on the conversation and do not necessarily reflect Alan's or Chiltern's views.

I started by asking what he saw as his area of responsibility. His answer was: 'if you take away the driver, then everything else on board a service is mine'. Clearly, he works closely with Thomas Ableman and Jenny Payne is delivering the Mainline experience but equally clearly he takes responsibility for how a Mainline train is seen by its passengers.

When asked what he thinks a passenger's 'on-board' priorities are, he listed:

• Trains running to time
• Seats available
• Cleanliness

He believes that Chiltern Mainline will deliver for passengers through the December 2012 timetable so intends to build upon this success by 'adding value' to the passenger experience, in particular by harnessing the enthusiasm and dedication of the Chiltern train managers and catering staff to go that extra mile for the passenger.

Innovations such as the plated meal service on the Silver Sets Service are taking time to bed in but he hopes that Chiltern will get the day time and evening peak catering offering right in 2013. As ever, feedback from the customer is key and Alan intends to make himself very visible on Chiltern services.

He is a keen supporter of the Business Zone concept but accepts that it is still not hitting the mark from London in the morning and in both directions off-peak. Changes are in the offing but some may have to wait for the fourth set to come into service. In particular, the timing of the first Silver Set journey north is proving difficult to shift....

Alan is always open to emails from Chiltern customers / passengers. He can be contacted on alan.riley@chilternrailways.co.uk

Alan Riley, Head of On-Board Services, Chiltern Railways

Travelling from London to Birmingham in the morning peak

If you need to travel from London to Birmingham during the Monday to Friday morning peak, currently there is no question that Chiltern Railways offer the best value for money fares. Any journey is available for £27.50 super off-peak return which is huge saving on LondonMidland's £69 Anytime Return and Virgin's eye-watering £154 Anytime Return (Virgin's 0603 from Euston has off-peak fare availability of £47 return whilst LM's fare drops to £28 off-peak return from the 0846 - change at Rugby).

Alas from 2nd January 2013, Chiltern are barring super off-peak fares from London between 0630 and 0900 Monday to Friday making the morning fares off-peak at £50 return. Admittedly, this is still cheaper than the two competing TOCs though the journey times and facilities are slower and fewer respectively than Virgin's offering. BUT the fare change does open the way for LondonMidland to exploit the advantages of its new 'change at Rugby' 0846 fast service from Euston to Birmingham.

A comparison of the Chiltern and LondonMidland offerings is illuminating.

The 0845 Chiltern Mainline Silver Set service takes almost exactly 2 hours to reach Moor Street. If you were to return on the 1555 Mainline Silver Set from Moor Street the journey time would be 1 hour 44 mins. For the £50 fare, you get comfortable carriages with tables and power points, free wifi, catering, and for £30 more the Business Zone in both directions.

The 0846 LondonMidland Desiro service to Birmingham by changing at Rugby takes either 1 hour 56 mins if you stick to LondonMidland trains (fare £28) or 1 hour 41 mins (fare £34.40) if you catch the following Virgin Pendolino (10 min change at Rugby). Coming back, the xx.54 LM services from New Street take 1 hour 55 mins by changing at Rugby (no speedier Virgin connection)

Of course, LM don't offer power points with the tables in Standard Class nor is there WiFi or catering. However, if cost is your primary consideration then the 0846 could be a winner.

UPDATE - LondonMidland are offering 25% off off-peak fares for journeys in the first quarter of 2013 if they are booked by Sunday January 6th 2013 (http://www.londonmidland.com/sale/).

2013 is going to be a good year...

After all the upheavals of 2012 it is good to think that 2013 will be a year of consolidation for the three train operating companies which serve the Birmingham to London rail routes. Not that there won't be surprises - some of which I can predict with confidence below...

Chiltern Railways

After the success of the marketing campaign for the Dec 2012 timetable changes, the Chiltern marketing team is seconded to the Treasury. Its members waste no time in proving that although Britain has entered a triple dip recession, the saving of 6 minutes on the Kidderminster-Marylebone journey time means that the country is on the road to recovery. George Osborne hails the team as a beacon of light in an ever darkening world.

Later in the year, Chiltern start the consultation process on the 2014 Oxford-Marylebone timetable. In an unexpected move, the Silver sets are transferred to Stratford-upon-Avon to run a Stratford - Oxford - Marylebone service which includes the local services between Banbury and Oxford. Despite the journey time lengthening to four-and-a-half hours, I blog excitedly on the split fare possibilities opened up by the stops at Heyford and Tackley...

LondonMidland 

Bouyed by their nomination in the Goldentwit awards, LM's Twitter team expand their remit to that of answering life's big questions on a 24/7 basis. Alas, the answers all seem to involve broken rails at Bletchley and leave the Twitter community totally bemused

More positively,  LM solves its ongoing driver crisis by handing local services to Centro and London Overground and merging with DB Schenker to form a dedicated long distance driver pool. Passenger Groups praise the company for its ingenuity but question whether making Bescot Stadium a major interchange station is actually feasible.

Virgin Trains

The big news of the year will be that Tony Collins is made Secretary of State for Transport when Virgin successfully bids for the franchise to run the Dept. of Transport on a 20-year concession. Alex Salmond responds by making Tim O'Toole Minister for Transport in the forthcoming independent Scottish Government.

Totally unrelated is the news that Peter Strachan is given special responsibility for the Grosmont - Whitby track doubling, based in a new office at Battersby Junction. A source close to Peter tells the Telegraph that he is really excited by this latest challenge which he estimates will take all of two weeks. His future once the project is completed is unknown...

Network Rail

Finally, the year wouldn't be complete without the latest 'closure' of the WCML by Network Rail. For Christmas 2013, the whole of the WCML south of Rugby will be closed for two weeks so that toilet cubicle doors can be upgraded at all stations. When asked why two weeks was necessary when most stations no longer had toilets, a Network Rail spokesman referred the questioner to Chiltern Railways who started to explain... But of course that is where the year started...

Have a good one!

The listening TOCs: Chiltern Railways, LondonMidland, and Virgin Trains

One of the good things about travelling between Birmingham and London by train is that the three train operating companies all care about what their customers (passengers) say to them - even if the answers are not to the liking of those making the comments...

On Tuesday evening , I was able to witness the closing act of the latest 'Meet the Manager' session for Chiltern Railways at Marylebone. The manager in the firing line was Bevis Thomas, Head of Train Planning, ably supported by management trainee Jim Mason (pictured below) and other key members of the Chiltern team.

Jim Mason - part of the 'listening' team at Chiltern

As ever, a summary of the comments and of the answers will appear on the Chiltern web site in due course

LondonMidland have perfected the art of communication using Twitter (@londonmidland et al). The team has been nominated for the Business to Consumer category of the Golden Twits award. Winner to be announced on the 14th December at 3pm @goldentwits

Now Virgin Trains, fresh from their tussle with the Department of Transport, have joined in. Today, Richard Branson launched a short video asking for help to shape the future of Virgin Trains...

"So, have a think about what you would like to see from 2014 onwards.

What could we change or improve? Where should we be running our trains to? What exciting innovations should we have onboard?

We’re open to any suggestions so be as creative as you like, after all your idea might just be the next big thing in the future of train travel!"

Email  Customer.Relations@virgintrains.co.uk  with the subject line My Virgin Trains idea

Chiltern Railways 90 min swansong - well, at least that was the idea...

So the Chiltern Railways Mainline 90 minute journey time adventure ends - no more will passengers on the (superb) Silver Sets be able to lay bets on what was today's reason for the journey time not actually being 90 minutes...

Yesterday was a classic Chiltern experience: great value fares, comfortable stock, friendly visible (Virgin Trains take note) on-board staff... and of course neither the 0655 up to London nor the 1807 return to Birmingham keeping to time...

Going up to London, the delay was caused by a failed freight train blocking the through line at Leamington which meant that the 0655 couldn't overtake the preceding 0647 from Stratford. 10 minutes late into Marylebone.

On the way back, a mixture of Chiltern confusion and Network Rail obduracy meant a 12 minute late arrival at Moor Street. ONLY Chiltern could cancel a train (the 1810 to Birmingham), add a stop at Leamington to the 1807, then reinstate the 1810 at 1807 so delaying the departure of the Silver Set by 4 mins. Sometimes Chiltern try tooooo hard to be 'nice'. As for Network Rail - well clearly they don't believe that Chiltern run Class 1 services! Classically last night, control let a late-running CrossCountry (stopping at Banbury) ahead of the Silver Set at Anyho Junction, then compounded the delay by sending a LondonMidland local ahead of the service at Dorridge! Clearly Chiltern need to send in a Tony Collins to sort out the situation.

So brave try Chiltern but perhaps the 94 min best timings are more realistic... Good luck from Monday

Chiltern Railway fares from Tuesday 2nd January

Chiltern 'have announced that as of 2 January 2013, fares will be going up by an average of 3.5%, which is significantly lower than the average industry increase of 3.9%.' (http://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/news/january-fares-increases)

Of course, the devil is in the detail... Season ticket holders seem to be bearing the brunt of the increases - see analysis at https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwD8vJ2m9VtYN2JEdU9SdlpqczA/edit?pli=1 which makes scary reading for those who commute into London from stations between Bicester North and  Kidderminster. Clearly if you can renew before the 2nd January 2013 it makes sense to do so.

For those of us who travel ad hoc between Birmingham and London, the news is not bad... ticket prices are held at 2012 levels ie £95 Anytime Return, £50 off-peak return, and £27.50 super off-peak return. However, Chiltern have made a significant change to the super off-peak fare restriction FROM London. From the 2nd, Super Off-peak tickets will be barred between 0630 and 0900 Monday to Friday meaning that the cheapest ticket will be the off-peak fare. Still significantly cheaper that Virgin BUT now on a par with LondonMidland...

The Business Zone supplement remains at £20 peak / off-peak and £10 super off-peak. If travelling south and returning north on the peak Business Zone services then it makes sense to buy the £125 Business Zone return fare. NOTE that there is no need to buy this fare if first travelling north.

12 Dec. update - my thanks to @centraluser for pointing out that the 0605 Monday-Friday service from London Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill still has Super Off-Peak fare validity (£27.50) AND that it is a Clubman train so has free WiFi. However it takes 117 mins to reach Moor Street, doesn't convey catering,  and is clearly a commuter service as it nears Birmingham. The equivalent 0603 Virgin Trains service from Euston has Off-peak validity (£47), conveys catering, offers WiFi at a price (£4) and takes 84 mins...

Contacting Virgin Trains, LondonMidland, and Chiltern Railways

Today, alas, Google alerted me to a site which it had indexed which claimed to give the Customer Relations number for Virgin Trains. The number quoted was started with the 0843 code, which is described by the Ofcom Number Crunching Guide as follows 'Calls are charged between 1p and 13p per minute for landline customers. Calls from mobile phones are typically charged between 15p and 41p per minute, depending on the provider and the number called..'

In fact Virgin Trains has a VERY informative page on how to contact the company at http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/contact/ Alas, what that page doesn't tell you (but SayNoTo0870.com does) is that Virgin Customer Relations does have an ordinary landline number: 0121 654 7478 So don't use the 0845 number quoted unless your provider gives you free 0845 calls!

In contrast, LondonMidland's excellent 'Contact Us' page (http://www.londonmidland.com/contact/contact-us/) does tell you the landline number which is 0121 634 2040

Finally Chiltern's 'Getting in Touch' page (http://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/help) has an 0845 contact line which SayNoTo0870.com translates as 01295 759930

Save money on Monday-Friday Chiltern Railway fares from Birmingham from Monday 10th December 2012

From the new timetable which starts on Sunday December 9th, the Monday to Friday Chiltern Railways fare range for walk-on fares will be:

Journeys from Birmingham: Up to the 0807 from Snow Hill - PEAK fares: £61 anytime day single / £95 anytime return; 0822 to 0912 departures - OFF-PEAK fares: £49 single (one day) / £50 Off-peak return (valid for a month); 0955 departure from Birmingham Moor Street onwards: SUPER OFF-PEAK fares: £27.40 single (one day) / £27.50 return (valid for a month).

Journeys from London: up to the 1545 departure and from the 1915 departure: SUPER OFF-PEAK fares: £27.40 single (one day) / £27.50 return (valid for a month); 1615 to 1845 departures: OFF-PEAK fares: £49 single (one day) / £50 Off-peak return (valid for a month).

HOWEVER, the ONLY trains on which you need to buy a PEAK RETURN Fare from Birmingham are the 0650 and the 0706 departures from Snow Hill and only then if you are intending to return between 1615 and 1845 from London Monday to Friday! If you are travelling on the 0650 or 0706 and know that you are returning outside the 1615-1845 Monday-Friday band then buy a PEAK Single and come back on a Super off-peak return (£61 + £27.50 - saving = £6.50) and get yourself a 'free' extra journey...

On ALL other peak departures from Birmingham with a return between 1615 and 1845 M-F, split your ticket at BANBURY (£13 Anytime Day Return Chiltern only + £67.30 Anytime Return  - saving = £14.70 for journeys there and back in a day)

Even greater savings are possible on the 0515, 0546, 0610, and 0810 departures AS LONG AS you are returning on either the 1647, 1718 or 1747 Monday-Friday by splitting your ticket at BICESTER NORTH (£22.50 Anytime Return + £49.60 Anytime Return - saving = £22.90)

Finally, travellers on the 0915 from Moor Street should split the fare at HIGH WYCOMBE (£28.20 + £16.50 Anytime Day Return or £19.50 Anytime Return - saving = £5.30 or £2.30)

DON'T FORGET - Chiltern ticket offices cannot refuse to sell you ticket combinations such as those above.

Virgin Trains Birmingham-London services from 9th December 2012

In the absence of anything to the contrary, it is assumed that Virgin Trains will continue to run the services between New Street and Euston after the existing franchise formally ends on Saturday 8th December 2012...  Thus, Virgin have issued the PDF of the timetable from Sunday 9th December which is available for download at http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/assets/pdf/timetables/vt-timetable-a-12-2012.pdf

Not that anything has changed in the actual service pattern nor in the catering provision. So the key points continue to be...

Birmingham New Street - London Euston (Monday - Friday)

FIRST TRAIN 0529 - arrives Euston 0702
Then 20 Minute interval service 0550 - 2020 (journey times c84 mins)
LAST TRAIN 2310 - arrives Euston 0115

FASTEST TRAIN 0730 - 72 mins

CATERING (First Class): Breakfast / Hot snacks: 0529-1110; Light snacks: 1130-1710 & 1930-2310; Evening meals: 1730-1910


London Euston - Birmingham New Street (Monday - Friday)

FIRST TRAIN 0603 - arrives New Street 0727
Then 20 Minute interval service 0623 - 2103 (journey times c84 mins)
LAST TRAIN 2330 - arrives New Street 0136

CATERING (First Class): Breakfast / Hot snacks: 0603-1043; Light snacks: 1103-1643 & 1903-2330; Evening meals: 1703-1843

LondonMidland Birmingham-London services from 9th December 2012

The timetable for LondonMidland services between Birmingham New Street and London Euston can now be downloaded as a PDF from
http://www.londonmidland.com/download/72017.4/birmingham-rugby-northampton-london/

The big news is that the off-peak services between Birmingham and London have been speeded up and that, by changing at Rugby, the journey on some departures can actually be made in under two hours. Alas, however, catering is still not provided though Rugby does have a buffet...

Key details:

Birmingham to London (Monday-Friday)

0553 from New Street now requires a change at Northampton - arrives Euston 0802
FIRST through train from New Street 0633 - arrives Euston 0839

OFF-Peak pattern from New Street:
Hourly 0833 to 1833 - journey time to Euston 132 mins
Hourly 0854 to 1854 - change at RUGBY for journey time to Euston of 115 mins
Hourly 0914 to 1514 - journey time to Euston 133 mins

LAST through train 21.34 - arrives Euston 0021

London to Birmingham (Monday-Friday)

FIRST through train from Euston 0530 - arrives New Street 0803

Service pattern from Euston:
Hourly 0713 to 2113 (NOT 1613 or 2013) - journey time to New Street c124 mins
Hourly 0846 to 1446 - change at RUGBY for journey time to New Street of 116 mins

LAST through train 2146 - arrives New Street 0004

Chiltern Railways timetable from 9th December 2012 - a touch of spin?

Chiltern's timetable of services from Sunday 9th December 2012 is now available as a PDF download: http://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/sites/default/files/Timetable%209%20%20December%202012%20-%20%2018%20May%202013(1).pdf and as a printed booklet from staffed Chiltern stations.

In the current Winter 2012/13 CBD Digest there is a classic piece of Chiltern 'spin' in an article headlined 'Snow Hill to London faster and more frequent' (illustrated by a Silver Train arriving at Moor Street!) in which it is said that 'the new service will reduce the overall journey time by up to an impressive 22 minutes'. Now whilst it is true that Snow Hill is getting a better Silver Train service thanks to the two morning 'up' peak services now starting at Kidderminster and Stourbridge Junction respectively, it hides the sorry tale of  longer journey times from Birmingham. The quickest journey is now 94 minutes from Moor Street and many hover around the 100 minute mark and worse. A sad reversal of the September 2011 Mainline launch plan.

The key changes in the timetable are:

FROM BIRMINGHAM (Monday-Friday)

FIRST train now 0515 from Moor Street - arrives in London Marylebone 0659 (Clubman but no catering)
0546 from Moor Street NO LONGER a Silver Train BUT has catering

SILVER TRAINS at 0650 and 0706 from Snow Hill (0655 / 0711 from Moor Street). Timing has slipped to 94 mins and 112 mins respectively. Note these trains start at Kidderminster and Stourbridge Junction respectively giving Business Zone from The Hawthorns park and ride on the 0650.

Other peak Clubman services at 0751 Snow Hill (0755 Moor Street), 0807 Snow Hill (0810 Moor Street),  and 0852 Snow Hill (0855 Moor Street).

OFF-PEAK Silver Trains at 1055, 1255, and 1555 from Moor Street. Catering on the xx.55 Mainline departures from Moor Street until 1555

LAST train to London Marylebone is 2115 from Snow Hill

FROM LONDON MARYLEBONE (Monday-Friday)

FIRST train now 0605 - arrives in Snow Hill at 0810. NOT a Clubman / NO catering BUT £27.50 Super off-peak fare is valid...

FIRST Clubman 0715 - arrives in Snow Hill at 0859 NO catering BUT £27.50 Super off-peak fare is valid...

FIRST Clubman with catering 0815 - arrives in Snow Hill at 1002

FIRST Silver Train 0845 - to Moor Street ONLY arrives 1044

OTHER off-peak Silver Trains 1015 and 1315 to Moor Street ONLY

PEAK Silver Trains 1647, 1715 (to Kidderminster) and !815  (to Kidderminster calling at The Hawthorns) - timings 116 mins, 94 mins, and 103 mins respectively

LAST train 2307 (to Moor Street)

Back on Chiltern Railways...

With work taking me North this month - thanks Virgin, Scotrail, and Transpennine for smooth journeys - I haven't been South for some time so it was with delight that I accepted a Friday lunchtime invitation in London. I was particularly pleased that the timing meant I could use the 1055 Silver Train from Birmingham Moor Street as I hadn't been on Chiltern since Paul Bigland wrote a critical account in Rail 708 of a journey north which he taken in August.

Now, as regular readers know, I am a big fan of Chiltern and particularly of their Silver Trains so Paul's account surprised me. Having said that, Chiltern are very good at shooting themselves in the foot and the start of Friday's journey was in the classic 'Chiltern, what are you playing at' mould...

Turning up at 10.40 for the service, I found two doors open and the rest inoperable. Not surprisingly, passengers were milling around on Platform 3 wondering if the train was in service. It seems that the generator in the trailer vehicle had not been left running so it wasn't until the driver started up the locomotive that the power to all the doors was restored. Apparently, the same had happened at Marylebone on the 0837 journey which this set works so it was either a fault or bad train management. I am still waiting to hear from Chiltern on this question...

The connecting LondonMidland train from Kidderminster was running late so we were 5 minutes late departing. At least the delay gave the on board host a chance to offer tea or coffee to those of us in Business Zone (still a bargain at £10 supplement on top of the £27.50 super off-peak rail fare). It seems that that days of individual pots of tea / coffee have ended but at least the milk is still fresh and in a jug, and, of course, the cups are very generous in size.

Once underway, it was a very pleasant journey: quiet (despite the two internal doors being locked open), plenty of space, working free WiFi, working power points, and regular top-ups on the tea / coffee. Oh, and the toilet was clean despite this being the third trip for the set that day... Paul, I think that you must have been unlucky!

An almost pristine toilet on the 1055

Business Zone on the 1055 - a quiet working environment

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!

LondonMidland - travelling at 110mph

Although the December 2012 timetable has not been formally announced, I have been alerted to the impact that the 115mph running of the Desiro Class 350/1s will have on Birmingham to London timings for LondonMidland services...

From Monday December 10th, the xx.54 departure from Birmingham New Street will connect at Rugby to give an arrival in London Euston 1 hour and 55 minutes later (eg 0854 dep gives a 1049 arrival). This timing includes a 21 minute wait at Rugby for the onward connection (!) and will operate hourly from 0854 to 1854.

Coming back from London Euston, the xx.46 departure will get you into New Street an hour and 56 minutes later (eg 0846 dep gives a 1042 arrival). The change time at Rugby is only 6 minutes but only the hourly services from 0846 to 1446 will give this timing. Incidentally, if you change at Coventry too, using the overtaking Pendolino reduces the journey time to 1 hour 41 minutes!

Talking of Coventry, passengers there are clearly the winners of this change as they will now have an hourly service at certain times of the day with timings (72 minutes) not a great deal worse than the Virgin timings BUT with a significantly lower price tag!

Finally, if you don't want to change at Rugby but do want to experience a Class 350/1 unit running at 110mph, I am told that the xx.33 departures from New Street and the xx.49 departures from Euston have paths which include running at this speed. Looking forward to finding out if the units ride as well at the new top speed as they do currently.

In praise of the LondonMidland 0753 from Birmingham to London

Regular readers of this blog will know that I am a very satisfied user of the 'First Class' service that is the 0753 slow train from New Street to Euston. Two recent trips have confirmed my view that LondonMidland is giving travellers who don't need to be in London before 1030 a good value alternative to Virgin's ridiculous £254 'peak' fare.

Now that Virgin have bagged Platform 1 for their 0750 Pendolino service, the 0753 departs from Platform 3A - good news for those of us who use the Navigation Street entrance to New Street. The Desiro set comes in from Crewe and empties at New Street meaning that the First Class compartment is clear for passengers boarding. Clearly, the competitive pricing of the LondonMidland service is sinking in as there has been a noticeable increase in the number of passengers starting their journey at New Street and travelling through to Euston. However, as yet, I have not had a problem getting to a table and being able to use the power sockets for my laptop...

Both journeys recently have ridden smoothly and run to time, and I have had plenty of time to catch up with work on the journey. Naturally  'free' meals, 'free' newspaper and 'free' WiFi could be useful but with a walk-on First Class return fare over 5 times cheaper than that of Virgin's equivalent, these are 'luxuries' that I can work around...

Chiltern Railways Meals on the Silver Sets

Chiltern continue to trial meals on certain Silver Set services. The latest details are:

Week commencing Monday 15/10/12	Chinese style curry with rice	10.55 ex BMO, 13.37 ex MYB, 15.55 ex BMO, 16.46 ex MYB, 18.07 ex MYB
Week commencing Monday 22/10/12	Sweet chilli chicken with noodles-low fat	10.55 ex BMO, 13.37 ex MYB, 15.55 ex BMO, 16.46 ex MYB, 18.07 ex MYB
Week commencing Monday 29/10/12	Meatballs in tomato sauce with pasta	10.55 ex BMO, 13.37 ex MYB, 15.55 ex BMO, 16.46 ex MYB, 18.07 ex MYB

The morning 'peak' services continue to offer the hot breakfast options of sausage or bacon baps or scrambled egg on toast.

Don't forget that the Silver Sets run Monday to Friday only. All meals are available to both Business Zone and Standard Class passengers.

Tweeting for Chiltern Railways - Emma Gascoigne at the #BanburyTweetUp

Yesterday evening, the monthly Banbury TweetUp (#BanburyTweetUp) was fortunate to have Emma Gascoigne as the guest speaker - Emma, of course, being the 'E' on the @chilternrailway twitter account.

As part of Chiltern's press and marketing team, Emma has a specific role as Social Media Manager and can justifiably claim to be one of the driving forces behind Chiltern's very successful social media strategy. She took the Banbury gathering through the development of this strategy from the early days of 'lurking' (seeing what was being said about Chiltern Railways) through to the current policy of active engagement with a 'smiley face'...

Emma's (and the company's) Eureka moment came during the snow of 2010 when she was snowed up at home but Chiltern's services were continuing to run. She realised that the # tag #uksnow was being used by Tweeters so began to actively tweet information on Chiltern's services using that tag... the rest, as they say, is history!

Emma uses HootSuite at work, TweetDeck when on the move, and even, occasionally, Twitter on the Web... She monitors mentions of Chiltern, Chiltern Railways, etc but has a policy of NOT intruding on private conversations unless there are major factual errors which need correcting. Naturally, she and the rest of the Chiltern team do engage with those who use @chilternrailway in their tweets.

Emma is particularly proud of Chiltern's use of FourSquare. Being 'Mayor of Marylebone' can of course lead onto the honour of switching on the Christmas Tree Lights (we'll draw a veil over the image of Emma crouched under the table to actually plug in the lights as the 'switch' was thrown...).

Emma also looks after the Chiltern presence on Facebook and Google+ but she enjoys the immediacy of her work with Twitter.

Finally, as ever with Chiltern, it is 'watch this space (or Twitter feed)'. The new timetable starts in December but before then Emma was dropping discreet hints about improvements to on-board services...

LondonMidland 'Great Escape' promotion details

The online vouchers for the Great Escape 'off-peak' promotion are now available with tickets available from LondonMidland stations from Wednesday (the promotion itself runs from Saturday 20th October to Sunday 4th November). Also available is a list of strengthened services to cope with the demand expected to be generated by the ticket prices of £15 (£5 child) standard class and £25 (£10 child) First Class. Birmingham-London through services benefiting are:

Monday-Friday 0913 Euston-New Street; and Saturday 1513 Euston-New Street

NOTE that the promotional tickets will NOT be available on services departing Euston between 1700 and 1815 Monday-Friday.

Railcard discounts are available on both the Standard and First prices with the bonus that Network and Gold railcard holders are NOT restricted by the usual Network SE boundary rule (ie the promotional tickets will be available north of Long Buckby.

Vouchers are limited in number for each day (63,000 vouchers available overall) so don't delay if you know when you are travelling.

LondonMidland / Virgin Trains combo

Thanks to LondonMidland's ParalympicsGB promotion, I was able to travel to London yesterday on the 0753 from Birmingham New Street First Class for the princely sum of £11.90 (Advance First Single with 34% discount). I wrote in August on the pros and cons of using LondonMidland and yesterday's journey was as good (and had the same weaknesses) as ever. As a way of getting to London before 1030 at a very cheap price, the 0753 cannot be beaten - just remember to take work or a good book!

The ParalympicsGB promotion runs until Sunday. Towards the end of October (20th - 4th November), LM are doing the Great Escape promotion once more: First Class Off-peak journeys for £25 using a voucher available from Monday.

Of course, one of the weaknesses of the LM service is the journey time, especially in the evening (who wants to sit on a train for over 2 hours after a long day?). Fortunately, Virgin Trains offers low-price First Class Advance fares on the 21.03 back to Birmingham from Euston. At £23.50, this fare is a veritable bargain compared to the ridiculous walk-on First Class fare of £92.70 (don't forget if you do walk-on to split the fare at Birmingham International), and, of course, offers so much more in addition to speed than LM's normal Advance First of £16 (free wifi, refreshments, First Class lounge).

Despite the low fare, First Class last night was virtually empty. Tim O'Toole is going to have his work cut-out to raise the patronage level of the WCML Pendolinos from the current 35% to his planned 50%...

LondonMidland Great Escape returns

LondonMidland continue their brilliant off-peak promotions by returning the 'Great Escape' over the October half-terms (Sat 20 Oct - Sun 4 Nov). £15 Standard and £25 First Class outside peak hours. 63,000 Vouchers available for download from Monday 1 October http://bit.ly/SAHKvo

A good week for the three TOCs but Christmas looms

Readers of Business Traveller magazine have for the sixth year in succession voted Virgin Trains the Best UK Domestic Rail Operator. The award was presented on Monday (17th September) to Communications Director Arthur Leathley (press release from Virgin Trains here).

On Thursday (20th), Chiltern Railways scooped the Award as Passenger Operator of the Year at the National Rail Awards, and were Highly Commended in the Putting Passengers First category for the Barcode Ticket service (press release from Chiltern here).

The winners of this latter category were LondonMidland for Operation Synergy - the company's brilliant Social Media strategy.

Congratulations to all.

Not wishing to poop the party but Virgin Trains have just published plans for services in Christmas week "irrespective of who will actually be running long distance services on the West Coast Main Line by this time.” As work at Bletchley will close the southern leg of the WCML for part of the week (starting on Sunday 23rd), considerable disruption is expected, with no normal services New Street to Euston. WHY start before Christmas Day when the Sunday / Monday are likely to be seen as key travel days? Has anyone told Tim O'Toole?

Democracy in action: House of Commons scrutiny of the West Coast Mainline Franchise Decision

Monday 17th September saw a debate in Westminster Hall on the West Coast Mainline Franchise debacle following the successful raising of an e-petition by Ross McKillop. The three hour debate was opened by Rosie Cooper  MP and closed for the Government by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport Stephen Hammond.

The debate can be seen in full on parliament.tv and can be read in Hansard

The week before had seen Virgin Trains and First Group appear before the Transport Select Committee (my blog on which is here). The coverage on parliament.tv can be at found here whilst the uncorrected transcript can be read here (the corrected version will be published as HC 537-i (Session 2012-13).

Subsequently, the new Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick Mcloughlin, appeared before the Committee and stressed his “determination” to press ahead with the FirstGroup bid. The uncorrected transcript can be read here (the corrected version will be published as HC 584-i (Session 2012-13) whilst the parliament.tv coverage can be seen here.

Finally, the Department for Transport has let it be known that a team from the Directly Operated Railways company is being readied to take over the West Coast Main Line from December 9th... One does wonder if the Office of Fair Trading will have a view on one company running two main lines in direct competition?

LondonMidland Paralympic delight

Following on from the celebration of the Olympic gold rush, the Paralympians have done even better for LondonMidland passengers by enticing the company to give a 34% online discount on off-peak and advance tickets (including First Class once more) up to the end of September.

Don't forget that the 0753 LondonMidland service from Birmingham New Street is by far the cheapest way to get to London before 10.30 Monday to Friday as it is priced as an off-peak train AND, of course, there are NO peak restrictions in the evening back from Euston! Thus, with the discount, a Standard Class off-peak return would cost £18.50 (or £30.35 First) whilst Advance standard can be as cheap as £9.25 (or £10.55 First). Don't forget that journey times are 2 hours plus without refreshments or on-board wi-fi... however, the Desiros do ride well and aren't as claustrophic in Standard Class as the Pendolinos.

Chiltern Railways update from Meet the Managers...

I am told on good authority that Malcolm Holmes is NOT returning to London Overground but he has definitely relinquished his role as General Manager Mainline and will be leaving Chiltern at the end of October. Apologies for not cross-checking the Rail 705 new item

(Following on from Rail 705 news item on the return of Malcolm Holmes (General Manager Mainline) to London Overground,) Chiltern have confirmed that Chad Collins, currently General Manager South*, will become Head of Stations, and that Alan Riley, currently Head of On-Board Services, will become Head of Trains.

The latest refurbished Silver Set, currently undergoing testing, is to be split for the Autumn to provide extra coaches on the two existing Silver Set diagrams, the peak hours trips of which are nearing capacity**. Alas, hopes that overcrowding on the 1915 ex-Marylebone will be eased by deployment of a Silver Set are not to be realised.

Talking of the Silver Sets, the experimental meal service is set to continue on certain trains but it does depend on staff rotas as to when the meals will be available... Alas, the introduction of the Leamington Spa stop into the current 90 minute runs is confirmed from December so Chiltern's fastest south will be 93/94 mins (shame).

The December timetable is still being tweaked by Network Rail so the version of the online planners is correct in outline but may have minor timing changes in practice.

Finally, Chiltern are planning a robust response to Andi Swain's letter in Rail 705 about the confusion at Marylebone over the Silver Set Business Zone provision. No doubt, management are also taking the comments on board!

* Many thanks to Chris Bates for correcting the current designations of Malcolm and Chad

26 September: Chiltern have now confirmed that the full relevant management structure is:

Jenny Payne – Customer Services Director

Is reported to by:

Chad Collins – Head of Stations AND Alan Riley – Head of Trains

Chad has reporting to him:

Sandra Harper – Regional Manager North (responsible for stations and staff Bicester North northwards)

Debbie Osborne – Regional Manager South (responsible for stations and staff south of Bicester North) 

** Additional capacity to be introduced from Monday 8th October. Each Silver Set to gain an additional standard class carriage http://bit.ly/Sm9IcL NOTE too that a Class 172 two carriage set will be added to the formation of the 0733 from Moor Street from the 8th. This set is NOT to Mainline standard (no WiFi etc) and is there to relieve overcrowding from Banbury. Chiltern will be advising Moor Street passengers not to use this portion of the train!

Chiltern Railways Business Zone or Virgin Trains First Class - which will First Group emulate?

In all the furore over the West Coast Franchise, it seems to be going unnoticed that Chiltern are quietly but steadily improving the Business Zone offering between Birmingham and London. I am told that the 0655 Silver Set Business Zone is packed more often than not and that alcohol flows freely on the return 1807 (presumably on Friday nights...). Alas, I cannot vouch personally for these stories but I can reveal that the company is trialling 'plated' meals on the off-peak 1055 from Moor Street and the return 1337 from Marylebone.

Yesterday, I travelled in a very quiet Business Zone on the 1055 and enjoyed Sweet and Sour Chicken with Noodles served to my seat after the Banbury stop. At £4 with 'complimentary' cold drinks and tea or coffee (actually included in the £10 BZ supplement), this seems good value and perhaps similar to what First Group may be planning for their West Coast premium standard class should they be awarded the franchise.

I am told that Chiltern are planning to introduce a range of meals over the next few weeks, which will include Chicken Tikka Masala, Chilli con Carne, and a range of jacket potato fillings. Another Silver Set is undergoing testing next week and should be in service by October, so it will be interesting to see how the meal service takes off. As a side note, I understand that the 'famous' bacon roll on the Clubmans is now joined by a sausage bap in the mornings.

Of course, the Chiltern 1055 service is available for a Super Off-peak walk-on return fare of £27.50 plus the £10 on the train supplement. Virgin don't have a comparable fare offering but I did come back on the 2103 Pendolino from Euston for £23.50 First Class advance last night.

As First Group keep pointing out, the trouble with Virgin Trains is that they don't know how to market a mid-range offering to passengers who don't want to be cramped in Standard but also don't want the full at-seat service. Last night's Pendolino was vaguely busy in First Class but one wonders why Virgin feel the need to cart empty First Class carriages around their network for most of the day and why they can't cater for an on-train upgrade...

Still to be fair to Virgin, I do think that the three trains an hour timetable is  brilliant; the staff are efficient, and the journey is fast (which is always welcome mid-evening). The light snacks and drinks were fine, and, of course, WiFi is free both on-board and in the First Class lounge. Nevertheless, I do wonder if First Group won't do better still, at least in the first five years

Clash of the Titans? Sir Richard Branson and Tim O'Toole face the Transport Select Committee

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to secure a place in a packed Grimond Room in Portculllis House to witness the 'grilling' of Richard Branson and Tim O'Toole by the Transport Select Committee. Of course, being a mere member of the public, I was perched on a hard bench which ran along the back wall of the room - a foretaste of FirstGroup's new class of seating as one wag remarked...

As a piece of theatre, the event lived up to it's billing. Richard Branson swept in with his large retinue and played the 'I can't believe that this is happening / I just want to do what is right for my staff and passengers' cards, whilst Tim O'Toole and Vernon Barker stayed ice-cool and basically indicated that Virgin Group were sore losers who were mis-representing what FirstGroup were offering to the West Coast Mainline franchise.

So, ignoring the heat, was any light shed upon what is actually being offered by the two sides?

Well, Richard Branson and his team emphaised that

• Virgin were looking to make £800 million of investment in the route as opposed to their claimed figure of £300 million for First Group.
• the benchmark passenger growth figure on which they based their bid was 7.9% per annum
• during the extension of the current franchise, the Olympics had generated £1m benefit to Virgin as opposed to the Dept of Transport's projected £15m (which would have been physically impossible to achieve...)
• Virgin have an absolute commitment to the new services offered - subject to the approval of the Office for Rail Regulation

Meanwhile, Tim O'Toole and Vernon Barker promised:

• growth as exemplified by their TransPennine franchise (the 'poster child' of rail franchises)
• 15% reduction in Anytime Standard fares by January 2014
• an additional class 'premium standard' for those who wanted more than Standard Class BUT didn't want the Virgin First Class experience
• use Off-Peak offers to drive up seat occupancy from Virgin's current 35% to TPE's 50% rate
• make £350m of investment in the first five years of the franchise, then roll forward as demand require
• Refresh the interiors of the existing fleet
• Free WiFi
• At-seat catering
• Use of new media to target offers to drive business
• staffing to stay the same for the first five years then to reflect growth AND changing patterns of use...
• 'Shoulder Peak' travel to be tackled through use of fare pricing around peak times (NOTE the peak times are not planned to be changed)

Overall, Virgin huffed and puffed and were clearly aggrieved but FirstGroup refused to be ruffled and seem supremely confident that they will deliver. Roll on the judicial review!

5 reasons why I travel with LondonMidland and 5 why you might not...

On Tuesday, I used the LondonMidland service between Birmingham New Street and London Euston to spend the afternoon in London. Here's my top five reasons for using the company...

1. The Fares: LondonMidland offer a wide-range of fares, which combined with the generous off-peak restrictions (no evening peak from Euston), mean that travelling with them is almost always cheaper than travelling with Chiltern Railways and, of course, many times cheaper than travelling with Virgin Trains.
2. The Promotions: on top of the already low fares, LondonMidland has led the way in using the online booking system to offer innovative marketing offers. Currently, the company is offering 29% off many fares in celebration of Team GB's success.
3. The Service: outside peak times, LondonMidland offers a 20 minute interval service between Birmingham and London
4. The Trains: the Desiro trains used by the company ride well (certainly better than Pendolinos) and are relatively spacious.
5. The Twitter feed: a key strength of LondonMidland is the engagement that the company has with its customers through its use of Twitter. Virtually 24/7, issues are generally resolved quickly and efficiently.

Of course, there are at least five reasons why LondonMidland might not make the grade for you...

1. Northampton: alas, everything revolves around this town in terms of the Birmingham to London service. It has to be said that sitting at this station for between 4 and 16 minutes does not add to the pleasure of the journey.
2. Journey times: at 2hrs 14mins to 2hrs 24mins Birmingham to London, the company's services are slow. Strangely, coming back from London in the evening peak sees journey times reduced to a shade over 2hrs
3. Commuters: when all is said and done, LondonMidland is primarily in the business of moving commuters to and from the big cities which it serves. Thus, peak trains can be long (up to 12 carriages from Euston with the Birmingham portion at the far end) and can be mobbed...
4. Facilities: the services lack WiFi, refreshments, and power points (though these are found in First Class). Table provision is rather sparse too
5. Punctuality: although I have been rarely affected, LondonMidland do use the crowded West Coast Mainline and are thus at the mercy of events often outside the company's control Performance figures overall hover around the 90% mark...

Chiltern Railways and LondonMidland increase fares from Sunday 2nd September 2012

In all the media fuss about the 3% +RPI fare increases in January, it seems to have been overlooked that both Chiltern Railways and LondonMidland are increasing fares between Birmingham and London on Sunday 2nd September.

For Chiltern, the affected fare is the Super Off-Peak Return which is currently £25 and will go up to £27.50 (the Super Off-Peak Single goes up from £24.90 to £27.40) - giving a rise of 10%

LondonMidland's affected fares are:

Anytime Standard Return: currently £65; will rise to £69
Anytime First Return: currently £90; will rise to £95

Off-Peak Standard Return: currently £27; will rise to £28
Off-Peak First Return: currently £45; will rise to £46

Super Off-Peak Standard Return: currently £20; will rise to £21


Anytime Standard Single: currently £40; will rise to £42
Anytime First Single: currently £51; will rise to £55

Off-Peak Standard Single: currently £26.50; will rise to £27.50
Off-Peak First Single: currently £44; will rise to £45

Super Off-Peak Standard Single: currently £19.90; will rise to £20.90

Thus LM's rises are between 5 and 6 % on the Birmingham to London route (though LM tell me that across their network, the increase is 3%)

Fares set by Virgin Trains (Any Permitted route) are NOT being increased.

Chiltern say that the increase is necessary because of the continued improvements that the company is making to the service offered.

LondonMidland have commented:

On the Birmingham to London route we have invested heavily over the past year, trebling the Monday to Saturday daytime frequency and introducing direct trains on Sundays. The next stage is to build on this with longer trains at weekends (we've already addressed this on certain departures) and a further review of our weekend service provision. Whilst our key strength is our low prices, the improvements do require significant ongoing investment, so it's important that we strike the right balance with our fares. We feel £21 for a Super Off-Peak Return remains a very competitive price. One of the options for our off-peak prices was to introduce differential pricing at weekends, but for the sake of simplicity this has thankfully been shelved in favour of developing opportunities in our off-peak 1st class range. That said, we'll continue to use our rail sale and Great Escape promotions to fill empty seats whenever we can!

So it's farewell Virgin Trains and welcome to FirstGroup

After weeks of clearly well-informed speculation, today saw the formal announcement that Virgin Trains will cease to run after close of play on Saturday 8th December 2012, and the WCML franchise will pass to First Group from Sunday 9th December.

Naturally, FirstGroup are delighted at their coup - see press release and web page - whilst Virgin Trains are devastated (see Richard's Blog) but what will it mean for Birmingham to London passengers?

Well, the only two details that I have gleaned so far that could affect this route is first, that a cut of 15% is promised in standard anytime fares within two years, and secondly, that the 'cliff edge' of fare difference between First and Standard is to be tackled. This latter promise is to be welcomed as most Virgin Pendolinos run with near-empty First Class carriages outside the peak hours Monday-Friday...

Let the countdown begin!

LondonMidland celebrate Team GB's Gold Medal success

In another marketing coup, LondonMidland are offering a discount on their advance and long-distance off-peak fares based on the total number of gold medals won by Team GB (as I write, worth 28% - go Team GB!). Registration with LondonMidland is required by Tuesday 14th August, after which a code will be emailed out for online purchases from 15 August to 2 September. Full details at http://bit.ly/NXg7VY

Yest again, LM show themselves ahead of the pack in their imaginative use of the online booking system... Gold Medal stars in their own right...

Update Friday 17th August: the discount ended up being 29% (well done Team GB) BUT no code is required. Simply click on the CLAIM Button on the offer page

For Technorati - readers: accept my apologies and please ignore

4UDJKTKCVABS

During the Games...

Chiltern Railways


2012 Games: Changes to Train Times and Commuter Advice
Evening Peak Timetable 1st, 6th, 7th August

The following additional late night service will run for passengers travelling home from the 2012 Games:

0130 from London Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street.

On Sundays 5th and 12th August, there will be an additional service from Birmingham Moor Street to London Marylebone at 0743

@chilternrailway (wo)manned between 0700 and 2200 every day during the Games

LondonMidland

Longer trains, extra seats
Monday-Friday
The following trains will have 4 extra carriages:
1133 Birmingham New St-Euston
1333 Birmingham New St-Euston
1953 Birmingham New St- Euston
1113 Euston Birmingham New St
The following train will have 8 extra carriages:
2053 Birmingham New St–Euston

Saturday
The following trains will have 4 extra carriages:
0953 Birmingham New St-Euston
1153 Birmingham New St-Euston
1253 Birmingham New St-Euston
1353 Birmingham New St-Euston
1613 Euston-Birmingham
2128 Euston-Birmingham New St

Sunday
The following trains will have 4 extra carriages:
1014 Birmingham New St-Euston
1114 Birmingham New St-Euston
1214 Birmingham New St-Euston
1314 Birmingham New St-Euston
1514 Birmingham New St-Euston
1814 Birmingham New St-Euston
1914 Birmingham New St-Euston
2014 Birmingham New St-Euston
0823 Euston-Birmingham
1028 Euston-Birmingham
1124 Euston-Birmingham
1234 Euston-Birmingham
1634 Euston-Birmingham
1734 Euston-Birmingham
1834 Euston-Birmingham
1934 Euston-Birmingham
2034 Euston-Birmingham
2128 Euston-Birmingham
The following train will have 8 extra carriages:
2114 Birmingham New St-Euston


Virgin Trains

Additional Services During Olympics & Paralympics
Sundays
0705 Wolverhampton to Euston via Birmingham New Street
Saturdays
2310 Euston to Birmingham New Street
Mondays to Sundays
0010 and 0110 Euston to Wolverhampton via Birmingham New Street

Weekend First on LondonMidland - another twist to the tale

Barry Doe in Rail 701 has pointed out that, like Virgin, LondonMidland allows anyone holding a Standard Anytime Return to upgrade without an additional fee to First Class at Weekends and Bank Holidays (presumably, anyone holding a Standard Anytime Single would also be able to do so). Apparently, LM are reissuing the staff briefing on Weekend First to clarify this matter...

Of course, one has to wonder who these passengers are that use a Standard Anytime Return at the weekend. The ONLY occasions that you need to buy an Standard Anytime Return on LondonMidland are:

1. Leaving Birmingham for London on the 0553 or 0653 Monday to Friday AND returning Monday to Friday from London between 4pm and 7.30pm
2. Leaving London for Birmingham on the 0530, 0713 or 0813 Monday to Friday and returning Monday to Friday from Birmingham between 4pm and 7.30pm

Otherwise, an Off-peak Return should be used (or indeed a Super Off-peak if you are arriving in either destination after 1pm and don't need to return between 4pm and 7.30pm) Monday to Friday. At Weekends and on Bank Holidays, a Super Off-Peak Return should be used.

Whoo...ssshhhh Chiltern Mainline to London

In the week that Chiltern Railways restarted the Whoooooooooooooooooossshhhh down to London campaign in central Birmingham, I travelled to Marylebone yesterday on the 0655 from Moor Street.

I had wondered about booking the Business Zone Advance at £65 (a saving of £16 on the walk-on single plus BZ supplement) but it is not available through the Chiltern Railways App so decided upon a walk-on purchase on the day (£61 single).

One of the two 'adapted' Silver Sets now in service was waiting on Platform 3 as I arrived at 640 for the train. Not surprisingly, Standard Class was very quiet as I boarded so no problem establishing myself at a table and setting up my laptop. Power socket working fine but NO WiFi. Tracked down the Train Manager who promised a reboot...

Second, perhaps more serious, problem at that time of the morning: NO bacon rolls. Apparently the oven hadn't been fixed despite being reported failed on Wednesday. Had to make do with toast and jam to fortify myself for the journey...

Departure on time but still no WiFi. Tweeted @ChilternRailway but of course the team don't start (officially) until 8am so no immediate response. Train Manager suggested ringing Icomera support but of course this is a 0845 number so expensive when on a mobile... In the end, the Wifi came to life after Warwick Parkway, and, to be fair, @chilternrailway did respond just before 8am (thanks Emma). Chiltern are trying to get Icomera to start a Twitter support account but have had no luck so far. However, there is a Tweet Icomera session on 15 August between 5pm and 6pm so perhaps this will persuade the company to give it a go...

The train filled up nicely at the stops at Solihull and Warwick Parkway but not uncomfortably so. Good run to Marylebone saw a 2 minute late arrival into Platform 2....

The sharp-eyed among you will have noticed that I traveled to London on a  single. As I knew that I was returning later in the day before 4pm, I was able to buy a Super Off-peak return from Marylebone to Moor Street for £25 thus saving £9 on the Anytime Return fare and gaining an effectively free extra journey....

In the end, I returned on the 1507 Clubman service which was relatively empty at 2.50 (so no problem getting a table) but virtually full on departure. Good run to Moor Street (but the timing is sooooo slow) and WiFi was working! The Clubmans really are excellent trains for day-to-day travel....

£86 Chiltern against £158 for the equivalent Virgin train services (plus another £8 on Virgin for WiFi in Standard Class) - I really can't see why anyone travels on the latter...

Returning to Virgin Trains First Class off-peak

As I have commented before, if you can book in advance and need to return from London mid-evening or later, then the Virgin Trains Pendolinos First Class are the way to travel. Yesterday, I was able to travel south from Birmingham New Street on the 13.50 and return north from London Euston on the 21.03 for £23.50 each way (Advance 1st).

For this fare, you get a fast journey in a comfortable, spacious, and quiet environment with WiFi, refreshments, and newspapers (Guardian and FT) included. Yesterday's food choice on the journey south was spicy pork wrap or egg roll or chicken salad with sticky toffee cake, uglies cocoa cookie, an apple, glass of orange juice, and two servings of coffee. Coming back, the chicken salad wasn't available nor was there fruit...


The staff are friendly (and look very 'Olympian' in their Team VT polo shirts), ticket checks are now being carried out, and the trains ran to time. Just a pity that the walk-on First Class fare for that journey would have been £184.60 (splitting at Birmingham International) - four times the Advance fare. No wonder the First Class carriages are largely empty off-peak.

LondonMidland Weekend First - the saga continues

After my daughter's experience of on-board train treatment last weekend, she decided that booking her LondonMidland Weekend First at the station prior to departure might be wise. Alas, on the Friday, neither Birmingham Snow Hill nor Birmingham New Street (Victoria Sq exit) LondonMidland staff could oblige as they hadn't been told where to find the ticket on the booking system...

So it was that she 'rocked up' at Euston for one of LM's hourly 'fasts' back to Birmingham early Saturday evening. The train was 'rammed' (to use her picturesque description) in Standard Class so she was glad to be taking advantage of LM's new upgrade. First Class was fairly busy, or at least it was until the Conductor came along prior to departure to check tickets. Only four passengers had pre-booked First Class tickets but the conductor seemed to be reluctant to sell upgrades to the Standard Class ticket holders, preferring to send them back to Standard Class...

My daughter stood her ground - after all LM had promised that all would be well this weekend - and, after departure, he returned and she was, at last, sold a Weekend First upgrade on a LondonMidland train! But, you can guess what came next... No further ticket checks on the journey north meant of course that standard class passengers drifted back into the compartment so that after Northampton it was virtually full whilst the standard class accommodation was relatively quiet! She was not pleased, nor, I suspect, were the other passengers who had bothered to buy a First Class ticket or upgrade.

Yet again @londonmidland was sympathetic and helpful but clearly the message about Weekend First is not getting through to those who actually staff the LondonMidland weekend services. Fortunately for LM (and for my daughter's sanity), she  has finished her current travelling south. I wonder if matters will be sorted come to the autumn?

Of Chiltern Railways Business Zone and other matters

Yesterday, I had an unexpected journey to Leamington Spa which gave me an opportunity to try out the Business Zone offering on the 1555 from Birmingham Moor Street.

Yesterday's train was made up of the 'adapted' Silver set. Presumably, this set has now bedded down and is running reliably in service. Alas, the crew still had problems with the sliding door between the carriage and the toilet vestibule. In the end, it was left on 'manual' so at least it was shut for most of the journey.

Other than that, and the hum of the alternator which is evident when at a stand, the Zone was a delight for all two passengers to travel in... Tea served promptly in tea pots upon departure, and the Financial Times available to be picked up (pity the CBD Digest in the racks was an old edition). WiFi was working fine and, of course, there is so much space in which to make yourself comfortable.

So, Chiltern, why can't you sell the benefits more effectively? Is it the timing of this service which is perhaps a  tad early for returning business travellers to London, or could it be that the journey time is too long (111 mins compared to 84 mins on the 1550 Pendolino)? It would be a shame to see the Business Zone wither away through lack of use.

Chiltern Railways Monthly Money saver

Chiltern have introduced  a Direct Debit scheme for Monthly Season Ticket holders which gives the 12th month free if the first 11 months are paid for under the scheme. For Birmingham to London commuters, this would make the cost £7,075.20 if monthly season tickets were bought. However, the cost of the Annual Season Ticket between the two cities via HighWycombe is £6,700 so you are paying Chiltern an extra £375.20 for this facility...

Note too that Annual Season Ticket holders who buy their Birmingham to London season tickets from any Chiltern station Banbury southwards are entitled to the National Rail Goldcard which gives numerous benefits for both the holder and family within the old Network SouthEast area. As an aside, the same applies to any Annual Season Ticket holder who travels from Birmingham to London using LondonMidland or Virgin so long as the ticket is issued in the old Network SouthEast area ie Northampton southwards.

[Barry Doe has confirmed that my interpretation of the following wording from the Goldcard site is correct

Annual Season tickets can be issued as Gold Cards when:

• the origin station is within the area, or
• the issuing station and either the origin station, destination station or both are within the area.

Chiltern have said that the Business Travel Service cannot allocate Goldcards to Birmingham - London Annual Season Tickets bought through the Service as, although the service is based at Bicester, its sales are not allocated there... So, DON'T use the Business Travel Service to purchase an Annual Season Ticket from Birmingham to London!]


Thursday 5th July 18:36 - I hope that this will be the final update to this particular blog post... Of course, another way to get the Goldcard is simply to have the Annual Season Ticket running from London TO Birmingham using the ticket offices at Marylebone, Euston or Paddington.... As ever, when grappling with the national rail fares system, one's head begins to hurt!

Sun, Sea, Sand, and super savings

Finally, Chiltern seem to be suffering from the delusion that Summer has arrived (says he watching the rain pour down in Birmingham). For passengers from their commuter belt north of London, they are suggesting GroupSave trips to Brighton, Whitstable, Margate, and Worthing. Alas, at a journey time of almost 4 hours to Whitstable from Birmingham even the £50 Super Off-Peak fare isn't going to temp me that far south.

Upgrading to First Class - pitfalls for Standard Class passengers

Until my daughter's experience yesterday I was under the illusion that a standard class ticket holder could upgrade to First Class on board a train if she or he so wished and space was available. Apparently I was wrong!

According to the National Rail Conditions of Carriage (from 20th May 2012), Condition 12 (Restrictions on when you can travel):

If you have an Off-Peak or Super Off-Peak ticket and board a train on which your ticket is not valid, you will only be charged the difference between the fare you have paid and the cheapest valid Anytime or Off-Peak fare for the service concerned. The same principle will apply if you wish to transfer to first class accommodation. This rule does not apply in designated Penalty Fares areas, where you may be required to pay a Penalty Fare.

LondonMidland operates a Penalty Fares scheme and does NOT allow the purchase of a First Class upgrade on the train Monday to Friday (you can, of course, upgrade at a booking office prior to departure). This is to prevent abuse of the First Class accommodation.

The Weekend First upgrade on LondonMidland is available on-board Saturday and Sunday (or again by purchase at the booking office prior to departure).

Virgin Trains does not operate a Penalty Fares scheme so you should be able to upgrade on board, and, of course, Weekend First is available.

Chiltern Railways don't offer First Class but where Business Zone is available an upgrade can be purchased on the train.

LondonMidland Weekend First - my daughter's experience

My daughter is a fan of LondonMidland for her regular travels to London from Birmingham: she likes the Desiro trains, doesn't mind the travel time (happy to read...), and loves the low fares. As she was returning from her latest visit today, I suggested that she try out the Weekend First upgrade

Big mistake! Regular readers of my blog will recall that I rhetorically asked last Monday why LondonMidland were so coy about their First Class offers. Apparently it is not only the public who are in the dark...

The 15.13 service to New Street left Euston today from Platform 11 which meant that my daughter's ticket was checked at the barriers. On the train, she sat in the First Class compartment along with three other passengers and awaited the opportunity to upgrade her ticket. No announcement was made about the availability of the Weekend First upgrade but that didn't worry her unduly.

In due course, the train manager arrived and asked to see tickets. Both my daughter and another lady asked to upgrade to Weekend First but were told that Weekend First wasn't available on the train and that they should have bought the upgrade before joining. When they protested that this wasn't the case, they were told that upgrades on the train 'weren't the LondonMidland' way' and were threatened with a Penalty Fare fine unless they moved to Standard Class. Naturally, they both did, thus losing LondonMidland £20 in revenue.

So confusion would seem to reign. I am assured by LondonMidland's marketing dept. that Weekend First is available to buy on the train, so next weekend my daughter will carry the relevant page of the web site with her. In the meantime. the only good thing to come out of this episode is the immediate response of the LondonMidland Twitter team @londonmidland who were absolutely brilliant - not that they could actually get her back into First Class but at least they agreed she was in the right. Hopefully, next weekend will see the confusion sorted out.

National Passenger Survey Spring 2012

Congratulations to all three TOCs on the Birmingham to London routes for their respective showings in the Spring 2012 National Passenger Survey

Virgin Trains have highlighted the following in their press release Virgin Trains is best in class again:

• highest satisfaction ratings ever achieved by a long-distance rail franchise operator - 91% of passengers ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’with the service they received
• sixth successive survey in which Virgin Trains has been ranked top of long-distance franchised operators
• highest ratings ever achieved by long-distance rail franchise operators on the following individual aspects of service: 
• speed of journey, 
• connections with other train services, 
• room for passengers, 
• ease of getting on and off our trains, 
• and personal security while on board

LondonMidland's take - Customer Satisfaction With London Midland Higher Than National Average - highlights:

• overall satisfaction with London Midland stands at 87%, compared with 83% for the rest of the industry
• 83% Of passengers are satisfied with the provision of information at London Midland stations against the national average of 81%.
• whilst on the attitude and helpfulness of staff, the level of satisfaction is two per cent above the national average of 71%
• The investment London Midland has made in new rolling stock has also been recognised by customers. The performance of 84% is well above the national average of 75% and is a massive improvement on the 63% recorded at the start of the London Midland franchise in 2008
• In the category of coping with delays, London Midland’s efforts to improve drew particular praise from Anthony Smith, Passenger Focus chief executive, who said: “Well done to London Midland.... Particularly impressive was London Midlands’ whopping 17% rise in how they dealt with delays
• London Midland has also improved substantially in two other key categories; passengers’ views on sufficient room for passengers to sit or stand is up eight per cent to 74% since the last survey and satisfaction with the comfort of the seating area on trains is up seven per cent to 80%

Chiltern Railways expressed themselves very satisfied at being the top ranked TOC for 'overall satisfaction with the station' and at remaining in the Top 6 TOCs for overall satisfaction once more.

LondonMidland once more

Although my preferred fare between Birmingham and London is the £25 Super Off-Peak from Chiltern Railways, the block on travel from London Marylebone between 4pm and 7pm for this fare does mean that other options are worth exploring.

Until the end of the month, LondonMidland are offering a 25% discount on First and Standard Advance fares for returning users of their online booking system. As my day in London yesterday was well defined in terms of timing, I was able to use the discount to travel south for £12 First Class on the 0913 from Birmingham New Street, and to return on the 18.13 from London Euston for £13.15 First Class

As I have blogged before, the LondonMidland Desiro EMUs make superb travelling offices for project work as the ride is good and the First Class compartments tend to be quiet. Of course there are no refreshments nor WiFi... Yesterday's 9.13 service started off with four passengers in the First Class compartment and ended up with around 16 as there seems to be an off-peak First Class market south of Northampton. Coming back, there were six of us in the First Class compartment of the Birmingham portion of the train. Journey times of 2hr 14mins out and 2 hrs 4 mins back were adhered to.

Interestingly, LondonMidland train managers were very much in evidence on the journey south both before and after Northampton. However, on the journey back, a train manager didn't make it to the front portion of the 12 coach train by Northampton, though one did do a sweep through the onward 4 carriage set after that stop. As there are no barrier checks for the 18.13 at Euston (it starts from Platform 18), one wonders at the apparent LondonMidland policy to be pro-active in the morning and less so in the evening....