Chiltern Railways between Birmingham and London - always this bad?

[t_star2001uk]

I don't think Chiltern has been the same since it was acquired by Arriva (and of course ultimately DB)

I think you got that round the wrong way. It was DB first....

 

[gazthomas]

I think you got that round the wrong way. It was DB first....

Fair call, but that's the current ownership structure

 

[Geezertronic]

Euston never impressed me - the lack of tube station meant a walk in the rain was sometime necessary

The lack of a tube station at Euston??

 

[birchesgreen]

Its easy to miss the entrance to be honest as there is usually a huge crowd around the top of the escalator, and an even bigger crowd at the bottom

 

[HowardGWR]

The lack of a tube station at Euston??

I supposed he meant the lack of a Bakerloo station, as he was travelling from Paddington and otherwise only had the Circle at Praed St (as was).

 

[bramling]

We will find out in a couple of years when Chiltern comes up for re-franchising. I doubt they will tinker much with it to be honest as it will be running for a few years before HS2 even gets going.


Partly down to the fact Chiltern are paying premiums back now and will quietly cut corners to make sure they can pay those premiums.

No doubt there's an element of "end of franchise approaching" malaise.

It's an interesting question to speculate as to where Chiltern goes from here. The low-lying and not-quite-so-low-lying fruit has been picked now, in the form of stuffing their short trains with Birmingham and Oxford passengers respectively, with perhaps a bonus in the form of Bicester Village. In the short and medium term the issue is capacity, and in the longer term it will be about holding up the business in the face of competition from HS2 - Chiltern could find itself squeezed if the West Coast franchise also starts competing for the lower-cost London/Birmingham market.

 

[birchesgreen]

Not sure they will be squeezed that badly, the Brum-Marylebone trains tend to only really fill up by Leamington and Banbury so i doubt those passengers would want to use the WCML instead.

 

[Geezertronic]

I supposed he meant the lack of a Bakerloo station, as he was travelling from Paddington and otherwise only had the Circle at Praed St (as was).

Just change at Oxford Circus onto the Victoria Line to avoid the rain

 

[Mikey C]

No doubt there's an element of "end of franchise approaching" malaise.

It's an interesting question to speculate as to where Chiltern goes from here. The low-lying and not-quite-so-low-lying fruit has been picked now, in the form of stuffing their short trains with Birmingham and Oxford passengers respectively, with perhaps a bonus in the form of Bicester Village. In the short and medium term the issue is capacity, and in the longer term it will be about holding up the business in the face of competition from HS2 - Chiltern could find itself squeezed if the West Coast franchise also starts competing for the lower-cost London/Birmingham market.

There's massive potential growth along the Chiltern route, with plenty of new housing to be built. Plus there's East West rail which will boost passenger demand.

London/Birmingham is just a minor issue for them really.

 

[VT 390]

Whenever I travel with Chiltern between Birmingham and London they only seam to get busy (no seats left) from around High Wycombe. I have never not got a seat when travelling on a Chiltern Railways service and I actually prefer travelling on Chiltern's services than a Virgin 221 Voyager.