Chiltern - still the alternative to Avanti West Coast?

Part of the impetus for starting the blog back in 2010 was my frustration that friends and colleagues weren't aware that there were alternatives to Virgin's Pendolinos (and Virgin fares) for the journey to London. Thus my blog did tend to highlight the many good things about the Chiltern service from Birmingham Snow Hill and Moor Street to London Marylebone - a tendency which grew with the introduction of the Silver Sets and the demise of the Wrexham and Shropshire service. Yesterday, Chiltern published the timetable for services from Sunday 12th December, though in a very basic format (only the 'print' version has the notes...). Strangely, no Silver Set services are indicated. Is the pattern from the current timetable to be continued (11.10 and 17.14 from Marylebone; 07.53 and 13.55 from Moor Street)? Covid is still having an effect on the service pattern as Snow Hill's xx.12 departures are not consistently hourly across the day. Thus Moor Street continues to be the key departure station for Birmingham with an hourly pattern of xx.55 and xx.15 departures for much of the day Monday-Friday (see below for full list). Journey times tend to be around 110 minutes for the xx.55 departures and 115 minutes for the xx.15 departures. Of course, with Chiltern one is sacrificing speed for lower fares. Chiltern's own peak return fare is £123.10 - and only required from Birmingham - as compared to the Any Permitted peak return fare of £188.80 - either direction Monday-Thursday - whilst the off-peak return fare of £52.80 is without evening time restrictions from London as compared to the Any Permitted £59.80 with its Monday-Thursday evening time restrictions. Don't forget that you can return via Chiltern in the M-Thu evening peak on an Any Permitted off-peak ticket by asking for a Change of Route Excess (to 'via High Wycombe') though when I asked to do this recently I was told not to bother and simply waved onto the train at Marylebone... Super off-peak returns are £33.10 though with time restrictions As ever with fares, don't pay for what you don't need when using a 'peak' ticket (ie a peak single out from Birmingham at £77 could be mixed with a super off-peak single for the return journey), check for railcard and group travel discounts, and look for split ticket options too. All to be covered in future blogs... Finally, Chiltern don't provide on-board refreshments nor is there 'First Class' available. If the Silver Sets are running then the Business Zone carriage is a (small) step up from the standard class carriages but whether the supplement of £15 off-peak or £30 peak is worth the enhanced ambience is a moot point (Seatfrog bidding isn't available for Chiltern). Departures from Birmingham Moor Street (Monday-Friday from 13th December 2021): 0515, 0542, 0610, 0633, 0711, 0753, 0825*, 0855, 0915, 0955**, 1015, 1055, 1115, 1155, 1255, 1315, 1355, 1415, 1455, 1515, 1615, 1654, 1710, 1755, 1835, 1917, 2018, 2118 Departures from London Marylebone (Monday-Friday from 13th December 2021): 0605*, 0711, 0744, 0811, 0910**, 1010, 1037, 1110, 1137, 1210, 1234, 1337, 1410, 1437, 1510, 1537, 1618, 1647, 1714, 1747, 1815, 1847, 1915, 1947, 2010, 2037, 2110, 2210, 2233, 2307 * First off-peak train from Birmingham; All trains are off-peak from Marylebone for outward journeys. NOTE that there are no peak restrictions to / from London Euston on Fridays ** First super-off train - restrictions from Birmingham and restrictions from Marylebone