Sunday 10 October 2010

Megatrain value

Megatrain is available between Birmingham and London on Virgin's Pendolino services to/from New Street and Euston. This means that you get Virgin's fast service at standard class fares which can beat even Chiltern's Advance tickets.

Booking is upto 6 weeks ahead though next day booking isn't generally available. Trains available Monday to Friday are the 11.30, 11.50, and 12.50 from New Street, and the 11.03, 12.03, 12.43, 20.03 and 20.43 from Euston.

Fares range from £9 to £1 depending upon how far in advance you are booking. There is also a one-off 50p booking charge. Don't forget that you won't get a seat reservation with Megatrain (but Coach E is always unreserved).

Overall, a brilliant way of saving 'serious' money if you can book in advance and can travel on very specific trains.

Thursday 7th October

An evening meeting known about well in advance allowed me to take advantage of the Megatrain fares between Birmingham New Street and London Euston. Though limited in availability, they can be amazing value: today's return journeys on the Pendolinos cost me the princely sum of £6.

The 11.30 Pendolino out of New Street was relatively quiet so no problems finding a table seat in Coach E (with working socket). The shop opened upon departure so I was able to get a hot 'meal deal' after Coventry - ham & cheese panini, orange juice, and Doritos for £4.45. Currently, the Virgin shop doesn't take credit or debit cards though it does take cheques! One way round this shortcoming is to buy a Shop Voucher from the ticket office before travelling: the cheapest at £3.95 covers the cheapest meal deal.

Tickets check after Birmingham so straight out at Euston after an almost on-time arrival.

Returned on the 20.43 Pendolino. This was slightly delayed in boarding so had to walk up the length of the platform to Coach A for a seat but again no problem finding a table with a socket. This train had a trolley service in Standard Class as well as the Shop but once again the trolley service wasn't announced.

Ticket checked before Coventry so slightly better attempt at revenue protection than last week's 20.23. Arrival was 15 minutes late into New Street due to a track defect at Bourne End.

Overall, an amazing value journey but how many people know to check the Megatrain site (http://uk.megabus.com/default.aspx)?

Wednesday 6 October 2010

Fare news Wrexham & Shropshire

Alas, the W&S has amended its fare policy so that the first train of the day up to London Monday to Friday (06.41 fom Tame Bridge Parkway) and the 16.30 back from Marylebone now cost more - £49 Standard Class single and £50 Standard Class return. The remaining trains still offer the £31 / £32 equivalent fares. Booking ahead sees single fares start at £10 for Standard Class and £35 for First Class passengers.

The Free Sandwich on a Sunday offer remains for Standard Class ticket holders

Fare news Virgin

The October 2010 issue of Hotline has a column on Making Fridays More Fun (p89) which focuses on top tips for travelling from Euston on a Friday afternoon / evening. One of the tips is to book an Advance First Class ticket on any train after 17.30 using the www.virgintrains.com site

Trying this out today for the coming Friday (8th), I found £44 First Advance Single tickets available on all the Pendolinos from Euston after 17.30 with £35 tickets on the 1903 and 1923. In most cases, these tickets were cheaper than the Standard Class equivalent. Considering that the services from 17.43 to 18.43 include a hot meal along with use of the First Class Lounges, this seems excellent advice from Virgin!

Virgin ticket holders can take advantage of discount offers at Birmingham restuarants and hotels - see www.visitbirmingham.com/foodie

Fare news LondonMidland

The Great Escape offer is returning for the Autumn half-term (Saturday 23rd to Sunday 31st October). Downloading a voucher from www.londonmidland.com/greatescape enables you to buy a return ticket to anywhere on the LondonMidland network for £10 standard class and £20 First Class.

Better still, the tickets are valid on the 7.53 and 8.53 services to London Euston from Birmingham New Street (and of course on any LM connecting service) Monday to Friday. Don't forget that these two services currently have a trolley service of refreshments, and that the 17.13, 18.13 and 21.13 services from Euston are as fast as Chiltern's Clubmans.

Excellent value for money!

Fare news Chiltern Railways

The company has published a leaflet entitled 'If you think fares to London should be fairer, join us' which sets out the range of fares (as at June 2010) available on its services. Very useful BUT it lists the Anytime Return fare of £82 correctly without mentioning that you never need to buy it! As my June posting (http://birmingham2london.blogspot.com/2010/06/chiltern-fares.html) pointed out, a combination of peak single out to London and off-peak or Super off-peak single back will always save you money...

A 10% discount on any Chiltern fare to London from Birmingham MOOR STREET is available to holders of the VIP Gastro Card until 31st December 2010. Unfortunately, this card was a Chiltern promotion at the July Taste of Birmingham event so are no longer available.

HOWEVER, the leaf-fall timetable which runs from last Monday (4th October) to Friday 10th December means that Super off-peak singles and returns are now valid on the 10.52 departure from Snow Hill as it is booked to arrive in London Marylebone at 13.02. An extra half-hour in London thanks to the onset of Autumn!

Monday 4th October

Up to London Marylebone on the 11.52 Chiltern Clubman from Birmingham Snow Hill. This service has Super-Off Peak availability giving a return fare of £19.50 if you can come back at 8pm or later (or between 10.30 and 15.20). An advantage of starting the journey at Snow Hill is that the train is usually virtually empty giving a good choice of table seats...

Settled into a table seat with a working socket and spent the journey happily working on my laptop. This train proved to be relatively quiet throughout the journey so working conditions were good. No catering trolley of course but I had stocked up at the Costa at Snow Hill. Ticket barriers at Snow Hill and at Marylebone plus a ticket check after Dorridge suggested that revenue protection was reasonably successful.

Chiltern trains are cleared of rubbish during the turn-rounds at Snow Hill and at Marylebone so the travelling ambience is good. Toilets clean and working too, and, being Chiltern, the train ran to time. Overall, it is difficult to fault Chiltern for their provision of value for money reliable services...

Returned on the 20.23 Pendolino from London Euston to Birmingham New Street. As I was using an off-peak walk-on standard class return, I hadn't booked a seat but as there were only 53 seat reservations on the train (according to the train manager) this wasn't a problem. Coach E is unreserved anyway so I started there (nearer to the platform entrance!) and found a table without difficulty. Finding a table is important when travelling Standard Class on a Pendolino and wanting to work as the 'airline' seats don't have sockets...

Had commented in a previous post that Virgin was expensive for food on the journey. In fact I discover from the latest Hotline magazine that if you have a trolley service then coffee and a flapjack would be £3 which is the same as Chiltern and only slightly dearer than LondonMidland's tfp trolley. However, buying from the shop puts the price up to £3.30...

My service had a trolley though it wasn't announced and for some reason didn't reach coach E so it was the shop for me.

No barrier or ticket check at the platform entrance, no ticket check on the train, and none at New Street suggest that revenue protection isn't such a high priority for Virgin...

Slightly late into New Street as a LondonMidland local was allowed in front at Coventry (!) but overall a good fast journey in clean stock with working toilets. The fare, of course, is over twice that of Chiltern so I think the jury's out on value for money...