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