LondonMidland
The Great Escape is back and booking is open for travel between Saturday 4th and Sunday 19th February. Standard Class travel for a day is £15 (First Class where available £25). A voucher needs to be downloaded from the web site before tickets are purchased at either a station or on the train if boarding at an unstaffed station. Railcard discounts are applied - making the fares £9.90 and £16.50 respectively - and interestingly Family & Friends railcard discount is being applied to First as well as Standard Class tickets (the children travelling for £4 or £2 each).
From Birmingham New Street, the first train available for travel to London Euston (Monday to Friday) is the 0913 (arr Euston 1127). Travelling from Euston, the first train available for travel to Birmingham New Street (Monday to Friday) is the 0946 (arr New Street 1201) - there are NO evening peak restrictions for Birmingham passengers! As ever, there are no restrictions at weekends.
So yet again, LondonMidland offer brilliant fares BUT seem to hope that their long-suffering commuters will put up with the influx. I pity those travelling on the 17.13 / 18.13 / 19.13 fast services out of Euston, especially anyone who has paid has a First Class season ticket...
Chiltern Railways
The Business Zone upgrade vouchers are still being made available in Central Birmingham. Each voucher saves£20 on the 0619 and 0655 from Birmingham Moor Street, and the 1646 and 1807 from London Marylebone.
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
Wednesday, 18 January 2012
Virgin Trains out / Chiltern Railways back
Last week, I commented on the cost of travel on the Virgin Pendolinos between Birmingham New Street and London Euston, and compared it to the walk-on fares offered by Chiltern. Yesterday, I had an unexpected opportunity to compare and contrast both the fares and what was offered...
For my outward journey, I had booked through RedSpottedHanky.com as I had loyalty points to redeem. Thus my Virgin Advance First Class fare was reduced from £23.50 to a very reasonable £18.50. RSH is the new kid on the online booking block and is certainly making efforts both to differentiate itself from its competitors and be proactive in reaching out to both potential and existing customers. A nice touch is the pre-departure email 'Before the off' which arrives a couple of days prior to travel to remind you to pick up your tickets.
I was booked on the 12.30 departure from New Street. As ever, I took advantage of the First Class lounge beforehand - it definitely makes New Street more pleasant from which to depart. Quiet coach H was busier than usual (though not actually busy!) and as the Reservations had failed to download it was a bit of a free for all in looking for a table on which to work. Still, settled on one whilst being welcomed by the ticket restriction litany - at least yesterday's train manager actually put a bit of life into it.
Power points and WiFi working fine. Coffee offered after Birmingham International and again after Milton Keynes (nice touch) whilst the soft drinks trolley and sandwiches (can recommend the egg brown baguette) came round after Coventry. Slight delay at Watford Junction meant a 3 min late arrival into Euston but overall an excellent travel experience for the price I paid.
Unexpectedly, I returned on the 1807 Chiltern Railways Silver Service from London Marylebone. The walk-on Standard Class return fare is £50 (compared to Virgin's £158 and London Midland's £27) for which you get table seats with power points and free WiFi and access to an Expresso Bar (Virgin charge for WiFi in Standard; LondonMidland don't offer power points, WiFi or refreshments in Standard).
Standard class was relatively busy but a seat was to be had easily enough. Strangely, as I got on, the train was in darkness - the lights had tripped and noone had complained (the crew hadn't noticed, being deep in conversation on the platform...). Perhaps this is a common occurrence for Chiltern regulars???
As regular readers of my blog will know, I love travelling on the former Wrexham & Shropshire stock - proper trains! - especially now that the Class 67's can show what they can do with the former speed restrictions lifted. Actually, they can show what they can do until they leave the Marylebone signalling area... yesterday, although Aynho Junction was taken at speed, the train was delayed at Banbury by a CrossCoiuntry in front, and then at Dorridge by poor signalling looping the train through the platform to pass a LondonMidland service. Don't Network Rail get the concept of the Mainline service?
So a 15 minute late arrival into Snow Hill due to factors outside Chiltern's direct control. Would Virgin stand for being treated in such a way?
For my outward journey, I had booked through RedSpottedHanky.com as I had loyalty points to redeem. Thus my Virgin Advance First Class fare was reduced from £23.50 to a very reasonable £18.50. RSH is the new kid on the online booking block and is certainly making efforts both to differentiate itself from its competitors and be proactive in reaching out to both potential and existing customers. A nice touch is the pre-departure email 'Before the off' which arrives a couple of days prior to travel to remind you to pick up your tickets.
I was booked on the 12.30 departure from New Street. As ever, I took advantage of the First Class lounge beforehand - it definitely makes New Street more pleasant from which to depart. Quiet coach H was busier than usual (though not actually busy!) and as the Reservations had failed to download it was a bit of a free for all in looking for a table on which to work. Still, settled on one whilst being welcomed by the ticket restriction litany - at least yesterday's train manager actually put a bit of life into it.
Power points and WiFi working fine. Coffee offered after Birmingham International and again after Milton Keynes (nice touch) whilst the soft drinks trolley and sandwiches (can recommend the egg brown baguette) came round after Coventry. Slight delay at Watford Junction meant a 3 min late arrival into Euston but overall an excellent travel experience for the price I paid.
Unexpectedly, I returned on the 1807 Chiltern Railways Silver Service from London Marylebone. The walk-on Standard Class return fare is £50 (compared to Virgin's £158 and London Midland's £27) for which you get table seats with power points and free WiFi and access to an Expresso Bar (Virgin charge for WiFi in Standard; LondonMidland don't offer power points, WiFi or refreshments in Standard).
Standard class was relatively busy but a seat was to be had easily enough. Strangely, as I got on, the train was in darkness - the lights had tripped and noone had complained (the crew hadn't noticed, being deep in conversation on the platform...). Perhaps this is a common occurrence for Chiltern regulars???
As regular readers of my blog will know, I love travelling on the former Wrexham & Shropshire stock - proper trains! - especially now that the Class 67's can show what they can do with the former speed restrictions lifted. Actually, they can show what they can do until they leave the Marylebone signalling area... yesterday, although Aynho Junction was taken at speed, the train was delayed at Banbury by a CrossCoiuntry in front, and then at Dorridge by poor signalling looping the train through the platform to pass a LondonMidland service. Don't Network Rail get the concept of the Mainline service?
So a 15 minute late arrival into Snow Hill due to factors outside Chiltern's direct control. Would Virgin stand for being treated in such a way?
Monday, 16 January 2012
LondonMidland / Chiltern Railways - updates
LondonMidland's Online Fare Sale has been extended by a week and now runs to Sunday 22nd January. Tickets can be bought for outward journeys up to and including Friday 3rd February. Don't forget that Walk-On fares are included in the Sale, and that you only need to allow a couple of hours for the tickets to be delivered to the relevant station's ticket machine.
Chiltern Railways are doing another push for their Business Zone offering between Birmingham Moor Street and London Marylebone. This week in Central Birmingham, leaflets are being handed out which contain a voucher for a complimentary upgrade to Business Zone on the 0619 & 0655 departures from Moor Street and the 1646 and 1807 departures from Marylebone. Note that these vouchers are subject to space being available in the Zone...
Chiltern Railways are doing another push for their Business Zone offering between Birmingham Moor Street and London Marylebone. This week in Central Birmingham, leaflets are being handed out which contain a voucher for a complimentary upgrade to Business Zone on the 0619 & 0655 departures from Moor Street and the 1646 and 1807 departures from Marylebone. Note that these vouchers are subject to space being available in the Zone...
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Who cares wins? Travelling by Virgin Trains
This week saw the start of the Virgin Money campaign to promote the benefits of the takeover of Northern Rock. With a headline of 'Who cares wins', the campaign carries the strapline 'Our quest to make banking better starts here'...
So, does sister brand Virgin Trains seek the same ethos at the start of the year which will decide the fate of the WCML franchise? Yesterday, I was on the Virgin Pendolinos between Birmingham New Street and London Euston to seek an indication.
As I was travelling to a long booked meeting in Central London, I had been able to take advantage of the Virgin First Class Seat sale in November to book my journey for £17 each way. At such a price - the cheapest walk-on First Class fare is £92.70 each way - one starts off delighted!
I was booked south on the 10.50 departure but arrived at New Street with an hour to spare so, of course, took advantage of the First Class Lounge. Mid-morning proved to be very quiet as I settled down with my laptop to use the complementary WiFi, enjoy the refreshments, and pick up the papers (FT and Independent).
Quiet Coach H was equally quiet as I took my seat and once more took out my laptop. It would have been even quieter without the litany of ticket restrictions which some Virgin train managers deem to be necessary prior to departure from New Street along with the automated 'security' announcements...
Coffee was served immediately upon departure followed shortly afterwards by the soft drinks trolley, but it was not until after Rugby that the sausage / bacon rolls made an appearance... Ticket check prior to Coventry; arrival on time into Euston. The only downside to the journey was that 2 out of the 3 toilets in First Class were out of action!
My return journey was on the 20.23 from Euston which was ready to board as soon as the 20.03 service had departed. Was pleasantly surprised to find an efficient barrier ticket check in operation - as were some fellow travellers judging by the trade the man with the machine was doing - and even more surprised to see the same two members of staff following up with onboard checks too. A new policy for 2012?
Almost busy in Quiet Coach H but still plenty of room and at least we were spared the announcement sequences. Coffee and drinks offered on departure and light refreshments after Watford Junction (can recommend the egg and cress brown baguette). Everything, including the toilets, worked fine and arrival on time in New Street.
So for a total fare of £34 there is little to suggest to Virgin to improve: after all they do provide a frequent, fast, and relatively comfortable service day-in day-out. However, I would not pay the full walk-on fare for it - Chiltern provide many of the same facilities (albeit on services not as fast and as frequent) at a fraction of the cost (yesterday's trip would have cost £25 walk-on).
If Virgin Trains are adopting the same ethos as Virgin Money, then start with the fare structure!
So, does sister brand Virgin Trains seek the same ethos at the start of the year which will decide the fate of the WCML franchise? Yesterday, I was on the Virgin Pendolinos between Birmingham New Street and London Euston to seek an indication.
As I was travelling to a long booked meeting in Central London, I had been able to take advantage of the Virgin First Class Seat sale in November to book my journey for £17 each way. At such a price - the cheapest walk-on First Class fare is £92.70 each way - one starts off delighted!
I was booked south on the 10.50 departure but arrived at New Street with an hour to spare so, of course, took advantage of the First Class Lounge. Mid-morning proved to be very quiet as I settled down with my laptop to use the complementary WiFi, enjoy the refreshments, and pick up the papers (FT and Independent).
Quiet Coach H was equally quiet as I took my seat and once more took out my laptop. It would have been even quieter without the litany of ticket restrictions which some Virgin train managers deem to be necessary prior to departure from New Street along with the automated 'security' announcements...
Coffee was served immediately upon departure followed shortly afterwards by the soft drinks trolley, but it was not until after Rugby that the sausage / bacon rolls made an appearance... Ticket check prior to Coventry; arrival on time into Euston. The only downside to the journey was that 2 out of the 3 toilets in First Class were out of action!
My return journey was on the 20.23 from Euston which was ready to board as soon as the 20.03 service had departed. Was pleasantly surprised to find an efficient barrier ticket check in operation - as were some fellow travellers judging by the trade the man with the machine was doing - and even more surprised to see the same two members of staff following up with onboard checks too. A new policy for 2012?
Almost busy in Quiet Coach H but still plenty of room and at least we were spared the announcement sequences. Coffee and drinks offered on departure and light refreshments after Watford Junction (can recommend the egg and cress brown baguette). Everything, including the toilets, worked fine and arrival on time in New Street.
So for a total fare of £34 there is little to suggest to Virgin to improve: after all they do provide a frequent, fast, and relatively comfortable service day-in day-out. However, I would not pay the full walk-on fare for it - Chiltern provide many of the same facilities (albeit on services not as fast and as frequent) at a fraction of the cost (yesterday's trip would have cost £25 walk-on).
If Virgin Trains are adopting the same ethos as Virgin Money, then start with the fare structure!
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