Chiltern have let it be known that from the start of the new timetable (Monday 14th May 2012), passengers with Super Off-Peak return tickets from Bicester North will be able to use the new 1844 departure from London Marylebone to return home. This, it is hoped, will alleviate the chronic overcrowding on the existing 1915 service.
Also from the start of the new timetable, BOTH off-peak Silver set departures in both directions will charge the £10 supplement for the use of the Business Zone carriage. So passengers from Birmingham have until Friday 11th May to try the delights of the Business Zone carriage on the 1055 service from Moor Street without paying extra, whilst those from London can use this carriage on the 1337 for the princely TOTAL sum of 25p by booking ahead (click here).
Don't forget that Bevis Thomas, Head of Train Planning, is on Twitter on Wednesday (2nd May) between 8am and 10am #ttmbev - so have your favourite train planning conundrums ready!
Monday, 30 April 2012
Saturday, 28 April 2012
Miscellaneous updates
Chiltern Railways
Timetable from 14th May through to 8 December available to download - minor changes highlighted in March seem to apply. The additional services for the Olympics are included. Modern Railways for May carries the Chiltern Press Release stating that the company is pursuing punctuality, and that major changes are planned for December. Meanwhile, Barry Doe in Rail 695 praises Chiltern for highlighting the Business Zone services in the forthcoming National Rail Timetable (table 115).
Also in Rail 695, Barry is very complimentary about the Business Zone offering, especially from London to Birmingham. Alas, he has been caught out by Chiltern's own confusion about the offering, stating that both off-peak Business Zones services cost £10 each way. That was the plan, but currently the 1055 from Birmingham and the 1337 from Marylebone remain declassified (see Chiltern's Travel Trade Onboard Facts). Meanwhile, don't forget the Chiltern / Evening Standard 50p fare offer.
Finally, Chiltern are promoting their route as an alternative to the closed WCML for Liverpool fans next Saturday. Should be an interesting day operationally!
LondonMidland
The Rail Sale continues until Monday 7th May for journeys up to the end of May.
Virgin Trains
Notice of the service changes for Sunday 6th and the morning of Monday 7th May can be found here
Timetable from 14th May through to 8 December available to download - minor changes highlighted in March seem to apply. The additional services for the Olympics are included. Modern Railways for May carries the Chiltern Press Release stating that the company is pursuing punctuality, and that major changes are planned for December. Meanwhile, Barry Doe in Rail 695 praises Chiltern for highlighting the Business Zone services in the forthcoming National Rail Timetable (table 115).
Also in Rail 695, Barry is very complimentary about the Business Zone offering, especially from London to Birmingham. Alas, he has been caught out by Chiltern's own confusion about the offering, stating that both off-peak Business Zones services cost £10 each way. That was the plan, but currently the 1055 from Birmingham and the 1337 from Marylebone remain declassified (see Chiltern's Travel Trade Onboard Facts). Meanwhile, don't forget the Chiltern / Evening Standard 50p fare offer.
Finally, Chiltern are promoting their route as an alternative to the closed WCML for Liverpool fans next Saturday. Should be an interesting day operationally!
LondonMidland
The Rail Sale continues until Monday 7th May for journeys up to the end of May.
Virgin Trains
Notice of the service changes for Sunday 6th and the morning of Monday 7th May can be found here
To London with Virgin - an unexpected 'pleasure'...
Lunchtime / afternoon event in London on Wednesday offered a chance to use Chiltern's Super Off-peak fare from Birmingham - £25 walk-on. Alas, on arrival at Moor Street for the 0955, I found that the disruption of the morning peak caused by a fallen tree meant a delay in departure of at least an hour. However, Virgin Trains were accepting Chiltern tickets I was told...
Got to New Street in time to join the 950 Virgin departure: a packed two set Super Voyager. However, the Virgin staff were adamant that Chiltern 'refugees' should leave at Birmingham International and wait for the following 1010 Pendolino as the 950 is a 'peak' service. Customer care is never a Virgin strong point in Standard Class but for once the 'jobsworth' attitude did me a favour as the Pendolino had table seats available in Quiet Coach 'A'.
Of course, when one's mindset is geared to working on a Clubman, the Standard Class of a Pendolino is rather a shock. Cramped, claustrophobic, lacking tables and power points, and you have to pay for WiFi (£4 for an hour)! Still, I did get to a table and power point, and the WiFi did work once I had paid up.
The journey itself was fine, though I was amused by the announcement from the Shop stewardess as we sped through Milton Keynes that we were nearing London Euston. What she meant of course is that she was shutting up shop at Watford Junction!
One advantage of an arrival at London Euston is the chance for a Fairtrade Coffee and organic refreshments at the Friends Meeting House on the opposite side of Euston Road. Great conference venue too...
Coming back with Chiltern meant of course facing up to the dreaded 1915 departure from London Marylebone - on Wednesday made worse by the earlier disruption meaning it was a 3 carriage rather than 4 carriage train. The secret to getting a seat is to be on the concourse by 7pm at the latest and then walking rapidly to the train on announcement...
As ever, the 1915 left packed, and, as ever, emptied the standees at Bicester North. Bevis Thomas, Head of Train Planning, will be on Chiltern's Tweet the Manager on Wednesday 2nd May (8am-10am #ttmbev) so at least there is an opportunity to challenge Chiltern on their train planning with regard to the early evening super off-peak services!
Apart from the overcrowding, a further issue is the lack of checks that WiFi is working on departure from Marylebone. As the trains are driver-only until Banbury, there is noone to reset the WiFi until that point of the journey. Come on Chiltern, you can do better than this.
Got to New Street in time to join the 950 Virgin departure: a packed two set Super Voyager. However, the Virgin staff were adamant that Chiltern 'refugees' should leave at Birmingham International and wait for the following 1010 Pendolino as the 950 is a 'peak' service. Customer care is never a Virgin strong point in Standard Class but for once the 'jobsworth' attitude did me a favour as the Pendolino had table seats available in Quiet Coach 'A'.
Of course, when one's mindset is geared to working on a Clubman, the Standard Class of a Pendolino is rather a shock. Cramped, claustrophobic, lacking tables and power points, and you have to pay for WiFi (£4 for an hour)! Still, I did get to a table and power point, and the WiFi did work once I had paid up.
The journey itself was fine, though I was amused by the announcement from the Shop stewardess as we sped through Milton Keynes that we were nearing London Euston. What she meant of course is that she was shutting up shop at Watford Junction!
One advantage of an arrival at London Euston is the chance for a Fairtrade Coffee and organic refreshments at the Friends Meeting House on the opposite side of Euston Road. Great conference venue too...
Coming back with Chiltern meant of course facing up to the dreaded 1915 departure from London Marylebone - on Wednesday made worse by the earlier disruption meaning it was a 3 carriage rather than 4 carriage train. The secret to getting a seat is to be on the concourse by 7pm at the latest and then walking rapidly to the train on announcement...
As ever, the 1915 left packed, and, as ever, emptied the standees at Bicester North. Bevis Thomas, Head of Train Planning, will be on Chiltern's Tweet the Manager on Wednesday 2nd May (8am-10am #ttmbev) so at least there is an opportunity to challenge Chiltern on their train planning with regard to the early evening super off-peak services!
Apart from the overcrowding, a further issue is the lack of checks that WiFi is working on departure from Marylebone. As the trains are driver-only until Banbury, there is noone to reset the WiFi until that point of the journey. Come on Chiltern, you can do better than this.
Monday, 23 April 2012
Travelling FROM London TO Birmingham ?
Chiltern Railways are aggressively promoting their Mainline service from London Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street by linking up with the Evening Standard to offer cheap return fares between the two cities.
Chiltern already offer a bargain £25 Super Off-Peak walk-on return fare which is available on all departures from Marylebone apart from those between 4pm and 7pm. Now, if you can plan in advance, the fare is 50p return on selected morning departures and afternoon return departures from Moor Street.
Using the link Evening Standard 50p Offer you first have to register before being given access to the special booking page. NOTE that the fare is shown as a 25p single fare with online discount; also, only the first two trains available are shown automatically - click on the scroll bar of both outward and return services to see the rest.
It would appear that from London the trains available are hourly from 0837 to 1337; from Birmingham, the trains are hourly from 1255 to 1555, then 1710, 1843, and 1951. DON'T forget that the 0837 and 1555 departures offer Business Zone for £10 extra each way, whilst the 1337 has the Business Zone carriage without charge.
These fares are available until Saturday 26th May (booking closes Friday 25th May).
If you need to travel from London to Birmingham during Chiltern's Off-Peak ticket period of 4pm to 7pm, then consider using LondonMidland. Currently, the company's Rail Sale is offering Advance First Class tickets on the peak services out of London during April and May, though tickets do have to be booked by May 7th.
Virgin - eat your heart out (but I don't suppose they will....)
Chiltern already offer a bargain £25 Super Off-Peak walk-on return fare which is available on all departures from Marylebone apart from those between 4pm and 7pm. Now, if you can plan in advance, the fare is 50p return on selected morning departures and afternoon return departures from Moor Street.
Using the link Evening Standard 50p Offer you first have to register before being given access to the special booking page. NOTE that the fare is shown as a 25p single fare with online discount; also, only the first two trains available are shown automatically - click on the scroll bar of both outward and return services to see the rest.
It would appear that from London the trains available are hourly from 0837 to 1337; from Birmingham, the trains are hourly from 1255 to 1555, then 1710, 1843, and 1951. DON'T forget that the 0837 and 1555 departures offer Business Zone for £10 extra each way, whilst the 1337 has the Business Zone carriage without charge.
These fares are available until Saturday 26th May (booking closes Friday 25th May).
If you need to travel from London to Birmingham during Chiltern's Off-Peak ticket period of 4pm to 7pm, then consider using LondonMidland. Currently, the company's Rail Sale is offering Advance First Class tickets on the peak services out of London during April and May, though tickets do have to be booked by May 7th.
Virgin - eat your heart out (but I don't suppose they will....)
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
LondonMidland - best peak-time value for money?
At the end of March, I took the opportunity of the LondonMidland Rail Sale to do a comparison blog on Advance First Class fares from Birmingham to London. In it, I pointed out that through the sale LondonMidland were offering fares over six times cheaper than Virgin Trains and almost four times cheaper than Chiltern Railways... So what do you get for such bargain basement fares? On Tuesday, I used the 0653 from Birmingham New Street to London Euston (and the 1813 return) to remind myself.
LondonMidland's services are formed of Class 350 Desiro electrical multiple units which have a first class compartment of 24 seats, of which 8 are around tables. All seats recline, have power sockets, and curtains. Leaving New Street, the four car unit carried around 8 First Class passengers and steadily picked up more until after the final stop of Leighton Buzzard the compartment was full. Ticket checks after Birmingham International and Leighton Buzzard indicated that everyone had indeed bought First Class tickets or passes.
The Desiros ride well and are capable of a good turn of speed but, of course, cannot really show their paces when confined to the stopping patterns of the LondonMidland commuter service into London. Naturally, there are no additional facilities such as refreshments or WiFi, so the 2 hour 17 min journey needs to be prepared for: a Starbucks coffee and croissant and a Laptop dongle saw me through the journey productively.
Coming back, the 1813 leaves London Euston as a twelve coach train but only the front four carriages go through to Birmingham New Street. Leaving Euston, there were around 12 in the compartment of which half left at Leighton Buzzard. No ticket checks before Northampton but the great British travelling public don't take advantage by crowding into First! After Northampton, one passenger was found to be travelling on a standard class ticket.
One of the peculiarities of the LondonMidland timetable is that the peak return trains from Euston are timed to reach New Street in 2 hours 3 mins which is almost as fast as some of Chiltern's early evening off-peak services. Thus, as LondonMidland allow cheap Advance First Fares on these peak 'fast' trains, one can leave London after an afternoon meeting and be back in Birmingham mid-evening. Not bad, especially if you prepare with tea and cake at the Friends Meeting House across the road from Euston beforehand (the cafe of which stays open to 8pm Monday to Friday).
Of course, LondonMidland are reliant on co-operation from Network Rail for such timing. On Tuesday, the service was running to time until it was held inexplicably outside New Street for several minutes - platform availability isn't one of New Street's strong points.
So bargain travel at £28.80 return offering an adequate working environment. I'll just have to hope that those foolish enough to waste their firm's money on Virgin Trains don't catch on...
LondonMidland's services are formed of Class 350 Desiro electrical multiple units which have a first class compartment of 24 seats, of which 8 are around tables. All seats recline, have power sockets, and curtains. Leaving New Street, the four car unit carried around 8 First Class passengers and steadily picked up more until after the final stop of Leighton Buzzard the compartment was full. Ticket checks after Birmingham International and Leighton Buzzard indicated that everyone had indeed bought First Class tickets or passes.
The Desiros ride well and are capable of a good turn of speed but, of course, cannot really show their paces when confined to the stopping patterns of the LondonMidland commuter service into London. Naturally, there are no additional facilities such as refreshments or WiFi, so the 2 hour 17 min journey needs to be prepared for: a Starbucks coffee and croissant and a Laptop dongle saw me through the journey productively.
Coming back, the 1813 leaves London Euston as a twelve coach train but only the front four carriages go through to Birmingham New Street. Leaving Euston, there were around 12 in the compartment of which half left at Leighton Buzzard. No ticket checks before Northampton but the great British travelling public don't take advantage by crowding into First! After Northampton, one passenger was found to be travelling on a standard class ticket.
One of the peculiarities of the LondonMidland timetable is that the peak return trains from Euston are timed to reach New Street in 2 hours 3 mins which is almost as fast as some of Chiltern's early evening off-peak services. Thus, as LondonMidland allow cheap Advance First Fares on these peak 'fast' trains, one can leave London after an afternoon meeting and be back in Birmingham mid-evening. Not bad, especially if you prepare with tea and cake at the Friends Meeting House across the road from Euston beforehand (the cafe of which stays open to 8pm Monday to Friday).
Of course, LondonMidland are reliant on co-operation from Network Rail for such timing. On Tuesday, the service was running to time until it was held inexplicably outside New Street for several minutes - platform availability isn't one of New Street's strong points.
So bargain travel at £28.80 return offering an adequate working environment. I'll just have to hope that those foolish enough to waste their firm's money on Virgin Trains don't catch on...
Saturday, 14 April 2012
Of Rail Rovers and Season Tickets
Rail 694 (available to subscribers today and in newsagents on Wednesday) carries the annual review of Rail Rovers compiled by Barry Doe As ever, he highlights the great value that is season ticket travel, using as his example the 7 day Stoke-on-Trent to London season.
For £500.30 First Class, the Any Permitted / Any Time routes include WCML to Euston, Chiltern to Marylebone, FGW to Paddington, and East Midlands to St Pancras. Complementary meals where served are included. Considering that the First Class Anytime return is £334, one can see his point!
The equivalent for Birmingham to London cost £396 but, as far as I can understand the Routeing Guide, this does not include East Midlands to St Pancras. As the First Class Anytime return is £254, once again the value of the season ticket is shown.
For £500.30 First Class, the Any Permitted / Any Time routes include WCML to Euston, Chiltern to Marylebone, FGW to Paddington, and East Midlands to St Pancras. Complementary meals where served are included. Considering that the First Class Anytime return is £334, one can see his point!
The equivalent for Birmingham to London cost £396 but, as far as I can understand the Routeing Guide, this does not include East Midlands to St Pancras. As the First Class Anytime return is £254, once again the value of the season ticket is shown.
Friday, 6 April 2012
Miscellaneous updates
Chiltern Railways
Marston's competition - win a weekend in Stratford-upon-Avon
Malcolm Holmes, General Manager Mainline, is running two marathons over two weekends in aid of Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. Support him here
Tweet the Boss (MD Rob Brighouse) 21 March report NOTE consultation on December 2012 timetable promised for May; refurbished Silver Trains expected September / October
Tweets to Diggory Waite, Business Development Manager 3rd April visualised on Twitwheel
Tweets to Andrew Munden, Operations and Safety Director 4th April visualised on Twitwheel
LondonMidland
Rail Sale starts on Monday 9th April and runs to May 31st. Book online up to May 7th for savings on standard class walk-on fares and on First Class Advance fares
Don't forget that LondonMidland now has a specific Twitter account for offers @lmoffers
The next 'Meet the Managers' session is on 11 April - Birmingham stations (New Street, Snow Hill and Moor Street)
Virgin Trains
The 11-car Pendolinos are now in operation. Brand-new trains BUT without WiFi!
Birmingham New Street station
Landmark stage reached in development of Birmingham New Street station
Read More http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-transport-news/2012/04/05/landmark-stage-reached-in-development-of-birmingham-new-street-station-65233-30696863/#ixzz1rIDGaYBO
Birmingham Snow Hill station
Birmingham Snow Hill – Customer Information System (CIS) improvements to include new information screens at the station entrance and an extension of the automated public address system. New cycle storage will also be installed. (LM partnership with Centro)
The work at Snow Hill is part of a bigger £1 million project to upgrade its facilities under the National Stations Improvement Programme (NSIP). The project is due for completion by 2014.
Marston's competition - win a weekend in Stratford-upon-Avon
Malcolm Holmes, General Manager Mainline, is running two marathons over two weekends in aid of Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. Support him here
Tweet the Boss (MD Rob Brighouse) 21 March report NOTE consultation on December 2012 timetable promised for May; refurbished Silver Trains expected September / October
Tweets to Diggory Waite, Business Development Manager 3rd April visualised on Twitwheel
Tweets to Andrew Munden, Operations and Safety Director 4th April visualised on Twitwheel
LondonMidland
Rail Sale starts on Monday 9th April and runs to May 31st. Book online up to May 7th for savings on standard class walk-on fares and on First Class Advance fares
Don't forget that LondonMidland now has a specific Twitter account for offers @lmoffers
The next 'Meet the Managers' session is on 11 April - Birmingham stations (New Street, Snow Hill and Moor Street)
Virgin Trains
The 11-car Pendolinos are now in operation. Brand-new trains BUT without WiFi!
Birmingham New Street station
Landmark stage reached in development of Birmingham New Street station
Read More http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-transport-news/2012/04/05/landmark-stage-reached-in-development-of-birmingham-new-street-station-65233-30696863/#ixzz1rIDGaYBO
Birmingham Snow Hill station
Birmingham Snow Hill – Customer Information System (CIS) improvements to include new information screens at the station entrance and an extension of the automated public address system. New cycle storage will also be installed. (LM partnership with Centro)
The work at Snow Hill is part of a bigger £1 million project to upgrade its facilities under the National Stations Improvement Programme (NSIP). The project is due for completion by 2014.
Great value from Virgin - if you book in advance
Knowing about an early evening meeting in London a couple of weeks ahead of the time allowed me to book Virgin Trains Advance First Class Singles for journeys on Tuesday. At £23.50 each way, they really can't be beaten for value (but of course you pay a heavy price if you miss your booked trains).
The 12.30 Pendolino was sitting in the platform when I arrived at Birmingham New Street at 12.15. For some reason, the Virgin booking system has allocated me seat 15 in Quiet Coach 'H' but of course this was irrelevant given how few passengers use these trains First Class. In fact, the reservation system hadn't been loaded ( a common failing in my experience) so I sat in my usual place.
Although the power point was working ok, WiFi wasn't. At least the train manager helpfully tried resetting it (a first for me on Virgin) and it did finally come to life intermittently. Tweeted @virgintrains to highlight the problem and got a sort of response - isn't it about time that Virgin (and Chiltern) insisted that their WiFi suppliers have a Twitter support account???
An active train manager meant that tickets were checked soon after the on-time departure. He was followed by the coffee run, and then after Coventry by the soft drinks / food runs (orange juice, a very nice, if small, salmon salad, and an apple). A final coffee offered after the Milton Keynes stop before slightly late arrival at London Euston.
Coming back, I joined a very quiet Coach H on the 21.03 Pendolino. WiFi working fine on this set! Ticket check on departure, and a coffee run straight away. However, as this service has a Milton Keynes stop, the drinks / food runs didn't arrive for half-an-hour. Did enjoy the egg and cress baguette along with a min chocolate crunch. Alas, no second run of coffee... Arrival in New Street slightly late
So Virgin continue to deliver and at an affordable price if you book in advance. Just don't pay walk-on fares!
The 12.30 Pendolino was sitting in the platform when I arrived at Birmingham New Street at 12.15. For some reason, the Virgin booking system has allocated me seat 15 in Quiet Coach 'H' but of course this was irrelevant given how few passengers use these trains First Class. In fact, the reservation system hadn't been loaded ( a common failing in my experience) so I sat in my usual place.
Although the power point was working ok, WiFi wasn't. At least the train manager helpfully tried resetting it (a first for me on Virgin) and it did finally come to life intermittently. Tweeted @virgintrains to highlight the problem and got a sort of response - isn't it about time that Virgin (and Chiltern) insisted that their WiFi suppliers have a Twitter support account???
An active train manager meant that tickets were checked soon after the on-time departure. He was followed by the coffee run, and then after Coventry by the soft drinks / food runs (orange juice, a very nice, if small, salmon salad, and an apple). A final coffee offered after the Milton Keynes stop before slightly late arrival at London Euston.
Coming back, I joined a very quiet Coach H on the 21.03 Pendolino. WiFi working fine on this set! Ticket check on departure, and a coffee run straight away. However, as this service has a Milton Keynes stop, the drinks / food runs didn't arrive for half-an-hour. Did enjoy the egg and cress baguette along with a min chocolate crunch. Alas, no second run of coffee... Arrival in New Street slightly late
So Virgin continue to deliver and at an affordable price if you book in advance. Just don't pay walk-on fares!
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