Disappointed in Chiltern Mainline

[williamn]

Took the Chiltern Mailine service up to Birmingham today and was rather disappointed. Ended up with two clubman trains, one refurbed, one not. Service from Marylebone was full, standing and dirty, and the same situation on the return. Surely they have spare sets at the weekend to add capacity? And why not make more use of the silver sets which were sitting in sidings? Chiltern used to be great but seem to have gone downhill. Aside from a good price and free (very very slow) wifi, for me Virgin has the edge - more space, more seats, faster and with catering - if only they could introduce a decently priced open ticket.

 

[Cherry_Picker]

It was full and standing because the West Coast had gone belly up.

 

[williamn]

Not at 10am it hadn't.

 

[Carlisle]

Took the Chiltern Mailine service up to Birmingham today and was rather disappointed. Ended up with two clubman trains, one refurbed, one not. Service from Marylebone was full, standing and dirty, and the same situation on the return. Surely they have spare sets at the weekend to add capacity? And why not make more use of the silver sets which were sitting in sidings? Chiltern used to be great but seem to have gone downhill. Aside from a good price and free (very very slow) wifi, for me Virgin has the edge - more space, more seats, faster and with catering - if only they could introduce a decently priced open ticket.

If you want all those extra coaches ,staff and services your ticket will probably cost significantly more to accommodate the extra costs probably similar to the Virgin fare

 

[williamn]

I'm not sure wanting a clean train with anywhere near enough seats for everyone is asking too much? Or are Chiltern beyond criticism?

 

[rdeez]

If the cleanliness / service was not what you'd normally expect, not a bad idea to write to their customer services about it. There may have been extenuating circumstances, or perhaps they just fell below their usual standards. You might be able to find out this way.

 

[Carlisle]

I'm not sure wanting a clean train with anywhere near enough seats for everyone is asking too much? Or are Chiltern beyond criticism?

I agree your train should have been clean I can only guess the silver sets require a guard throughout the journey not just Banbury -Birmingham so staff availability during the day may also be a factor

 

[Goatboy]

If you want all those extra coaches ,staff and services your ticket will probably cost significantly more to accommodate the extra costs probably similar to the Virgin fare

The Virgin fare is £7.50 if you book it in Advance.

 

[Chrisgr31]

I have only used Chiltern Mainline once but it will in future be my preferred route to Birmingham mainly because I find the seats in the Pendilinos so uncomfortable, especially the window seats, most of which have no shoulder room.

 

[Simon11]

To the op, how much did your ticket cost to birmingham?

 

[FOH]

I feel the same. Took the Silver set up and it was great. Had a refurbed clubman train back and it just didn't compare. Only 3 coaches so there was standing and quickly accumulated rubbish. It felt no different to a commuter train.

 

[alex17595]

I find Chilterns to be fine , they are cheap without the stupid Saturday restrictions on LM. It is also faster than LM.

When they did the 30% off voucher I got Birmingham to London for £12. At 7:15 in the morning I can almost get cheap XC advances on the day.

 

[williamn]

£27.50 open return.
Interestingly the Evening Standard ran a promotion for Mainline a while back and a short while after there was a letter of complaint about the service. I think on of the issues is that all the advertising features the silver sets but you're actually pretty unlikely to get one of these.

 

[CockneySparrow]

I agree your train should have been clean I can only guess the silver sets require a guard throughout the journey not just Banbury -Birmingham so staff availability during the day may also be a factor

Chiltern could be cleaning the silver sets

 

[Carlisle]

£27.50 open return.
Interestingly the Evening Standard ran a promotion for Mainline a while back and a short while after there was a letter of complaint about the service. I think on of the issues is that all the advertising features the silver sets but you're actually pretty unlikely to get one of these.

That sounds like a poor campaign by chiltern as online it shows only 3 Saturday return workings and one Sunday are shown to be silver trains
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Chiltern could be cleaning the silver sets

I thought cleaning was mostly done overnight but maybe that's wrong

 

[67018]

I have only used Chiltern Mainline once but it will in future be my preferred route to Birmingham mainly because I find the seats in the Pendilinos so uncomfortable, especially the window seats, most of which have no shoulder room.

I agree - in fact in my view the seats on the 168s are some of the most comfortable around.

However, the OP also has a very good point. People tend to expect weekend trains to be less busy than weekday peaks, but Chiltern seem to match supply and demand very closely. This means, on a Saturday, a Mainline train is often 3 cars and very full.

They have also been a victim of their own success - there are clearly a lot more people using the service, to the point that capacity is becoming a problem.

 

[rlt1986]

williamn, what trains were you on?

also, hello to all. this is my 1st post. about time too. guess i've been lurking for too long

 

[Tetchytyke]

Chiltern don't advertise the service based on the Silver trains, the Clubman trains are also advertised. And, unlike with most other operators, they tell you what train to expect. Look in the timetable and you'll know what type of train you're getting.

On Saturdays they are very busy, for two reasons. Firstly the popularity of Bicester Village, I've seen pretty much an entire four-car Clubman get off there before. Secondly, the popularity of the Christmas markets in Birmingham. I'm surprised your train was full and standing at Birmingham coming back, but certainly from Bicester it'll be rammed.

Chiltern would be perfect if you could reserve seats, but other than that I've never had issues with them. But then I've always aimed to get there early to ensure I get a seat, in both directions; if I've not I've just waited for the next one.

 

[williamn]

Yes it says in the timetable, I just meant in all the imagery they use on adverts - it's always of the Silver sets, which I think is slightly misleading given most of the services are clubmans.

I was on the 10.06 to Leamington, the 14.21 from Leamington to Brum and the 16.55 from Brum to London. The 10.06 was full and standing on departure from Marylebone.

 

[t_star2001uk]

I believe that some of the problems were related to a signal failure that morning. Trains were getting into Marylebone late and being turned round straight away so the cleaners did not have a chance to go through before its return trip. As omebody else has already said, WCML went belly up as well causing more overcrowding.

 

[sprinterguy]

I've always been pleased with Chiltern's willingness and capacity to strengthen so many of their services, often to seven carriages on services that I've travelled on using pairs of Clubmans, and I don't think that platform lengths at some locations would allow for much of an extension beyond that.

I saw two Chiltern services in a fairly short space of time while travelling into Birmingham on Saturday morning, and both had been doubled up to 5 or 6 coaches.

 

[jon0844]

I'm not sure wanting a clean train with anywhere near enough seats for everyone is asking too much? Or are Chiltern beyond criticism?

Isn't Chiltern above Virgin in that regard?

 

[CyrusWuff]

Looking at Realtime Trains, the stock for the 10:06 should come from Wembley Depot, but that empty stock working was cancelled on Saturday, so I'd guess there was a unit swap and the cleaners didn't have time to go through before it was boarded.

That train is also first stop Bicester North, so I'd expect a significant percentage of the passengers to alight there. This will almost certainly change once the new chord opens and Chiltern start running through to Bicester Town from Marylebone.

 

[sprinterguy]

Isn't Chiltern above Virgin in that regard?

Come to think of it, one of Chiltern’s 4-car Clubmans has only slightly fewer (15 – 20 less) standard class seats than one of Virgin’s 9-car Pendolinos.

 

[HWLad]

Would you see more Silver Sets go to Birmingham in 2016 once the Bicester Chord is completed so more Clubmans are needed for Oxford services?

 

[williamn]

10.06 was 3 carriages and standing all the way through to Birmingham. The dirt was not surface dirt but old dirt like chewing gum stuck to table tops etc, ingrained dirt.

 

[sprinterguy]

Would you see more Silver Sets go to Birmingham in 2016 once the Bicester Chord is completed so more Clubmans are needed for Oxford services?

Given that Chiltern were seeking expressions of interest last June for the provision of “8-13” passenger diesel locos, with 7 to be in service from December 2014, then it certainly seems likely.
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10.06 was 3 carriages and standing all the way through to Birmingham. The dirt was not surface dirt but old dirt like chewing gum stuck to table tops etc, ingrained dirt.

I’ve never come across a Chiltern train in such a state, and to be fair the Clubman trains are currently undergoing an internal refresh that includes new seat moquette and presumably a deep clean.

 

[NickBucks]

In fairness to Chiltern the travelling public do not help. I travelled on one of the refurbished 168 sets the other day- must have been in service for only a few days. Already one seat cushion had suffered from a spilt coffee cup ( at least I hope it was coffee ) whilst the phantom chewing gum depositor had already been at work. The train cleaners at Marylebone only have time to clear the surface detritus- newspapers, sandwich wrappers etc. They are not deep clean specialists

 

[bb21]

Some people are simply disgusting. I was on an EMT HST this morning and the First Class host came around twice between Leicester and St Pancake collecting rubbish. What do I then see some people do? Leaving discarded Metros and Pumpkin coffee cups behind.

I can understand it when facilities do not exist however after two rubbish runs and with an empty bin on the way to the carriage door I am totally speechless.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I just meant in all the imagery they use on adverts - it's always of the Silver sets, which I think is slightly misleading given most of the services are clubmans.

I've seen plenty of adverts on the tube featuring the clubmans.

I've never seen a disgusting Chiltern train- compare their Networkers (internally, I know they're not the same) with the ones SouthEastern are using. It doesn't mean it doesn't happen though.

I can only assume the crowding was due to the WCML issues, or the Christmas markets. I've never seen a train full and standing all the way to Birmingham, although it is common as far as Bicester (for the unfathomably popular outlet village) on Saturdays in December and January.