Nightmare Chiltern

[150001]

Hi there

Now today I was on a Class Civ trip to the British Museum and there was 17 of us including 3 teachers. At Solihull on the 09:05 was 168214, 3 cars and we had to stand up as there were no seats. Then more got on at Banbury, Warwick PWY and Leam Spa. It was like a cattle truck with some space down the aisles where me and my friend sat down in; yes a actual aisle seat on the floor! Well nearly everyone stayed standing up and after Banbury there were no more stops and all the way to London; with each carriage full of standing people. It was a relief to get off and the reason the service was short formed was due to the other units not being available due to technical problems. The conductors were apologetic but no vouchers for future trips or free food and drink after the uncomfortable trip. Not very good. Also the display was stuck on Cradley Heath as the next station stop raising questions at first to where it was going. Some Wolves fans commented on how it had changed with it now having an underground! Not long got back and back to old Chiltern ways with a quiet comfy trip for us. Crew even checked tickets and the LUL and Marleybone staff were very good in getting us through the large gates and letting us through without hassle so thanks.

Just posted really to here your views and your own stories of a nightmare journey.

P.S Whilst getting on the 16:30 at London, at 16:15 as I leaped on and one of my friends the doors closed hitting my leg and ear and same to her!!!Did get on and very funny!

 

[Southern]

It seems like quite a popular route although I haven't used Chiltern in over two years now. The last time was one Saturday afternoon when I caught the 1220 to Birmingham Moor Street, seemed fairly busy but nothing on the inbound working, which must have been rammed from the numbers that spilled off it at Marylebone.

 

[Schnellzug]

Perhaps their new service has prompted more people to use it, and so maybe they're a victim of their own success a bit? Although obviously that wouldn't last if people go back to Mr. B having found that Chiltern didn't live up to their expectations. Perhaps one problem is that there seems to be a bit of an imbalance of the type of stock used, with Mk3s on some services and 168s on others.

 

[embers25]

The £10 travel anywhere on Chiltern for the day rovers won't be helping to keep capacity down. I did think it was odd that they would run such a promotion on all the weekends leading up to Xmas when their trains would already be full with London and Bicester outlet Shoppers. They certainly were busy last weekend.
Also the locos only run on weekdays. It's all 168 London to Birmingham on weekends and to be fair to Chiltern this is clearly advertised in their timetables. Also in my experience it is rare 168's are ever paired so 4 coaches is as good as it gets and 3 is just unlucky.

 

[Lrd]

I wasn't on Chiltern but I did go in to London today, almost every train I was on got busier than expected. Lots of people Xmas shopping as well as Rugby/Football matches on all over the place.

Why should you get free food for having to sit on the floor? You don't pay for a seat.

 

[150001]

Well yes you do. Standing the whole way to London from Solihull is terrible. And the conductor said something about there being no other units this morning to pair up with 214.

 

[sprinterguy]

Also in my experience it is rare 168's are ever paired so 4 coaches is as good as it gets and 3 is just unlucky.

I've never seen a pair of 168s running together. I've seen a two-car 165 tagged onto the back of a 168 on occasion on the Birmingham services, but I'm not sure that the 165 hasn't been locked out of use on those occasions.

I would hardly describe the OPs' experiences as a "nightmare" journey, just a "cramped" one! We all have to stand on trains at times, it's a shame that Chilterns' diagramming doesn't seem to keep all of the 4 carriage 168s on the long distance Birmingham to Marylebone workings and the shorter 3 carriage units on the likes of the Birmingham to Leamington "short hops".
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Well yes you do.

No, the terms of the ticket do not provide that you are paying for a seat (factually? legally? commercially? I'm not sure what category it would come under), only that you are paying to consume that companys' service, which is travel on a train between an origin and a destination.

 

[richw]

Well yes you do. Standing the whole way to London from Solihull is terrible. And the conductor said something about there being no other units this morning to pair up with 214.

No you don't pay for a seat you pay to get from a to b!

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk

 

[Nym]

Err, no you don't...

I'm hard pressed to ever find a seat, even off peak, on my commute into Manchester, and I mean the whole commute, not just the rail section, but the two bus sections aswell... You're paying to get there, if you wanted a seat, reserve one... And if it's a large group traveling, did they not contact Chiltern Customer Services first who might have been able to arrange a block of seating?

 

[Essexman]

I used Chiltern 15.55 Moor Street - Marylebone one day this week and was very impressed. Paid the extra tenner for 'Business Class' and had the coach to myself. All staff very helpful and nice to have a buffet on this line. Total price of £34.90 single was excellent value.
Incidentally I'd been to Stafford for a meeting - went up on Virgin (1st advance) but came back this way as cheapest flexible ticket (other than slow LM which has no catering) and I can work on a Mk3 but not a swaying pendolino.

Perhaps on busy Saturdays like yesterday Chiltern could use one or two of their loco hauled trains on the busiest journies.

 

[Hydro]

I can imagine someone else writing elsewhere "...and to top it off, a group of 17 people got on at bloody Solihull!"

 

[AlterEgo]

I can imagine someone else writing elsewhere "...and to top it off, a group of 17 people got on at bloody Solihull!"

Damn, beaten to it!

 

[JoeGJ1984]

I don't see why they leave their loco-hauled sets in sidings at weekends - I'm sure the extra table seats they have in standard class would be welcomed by families, which you would get more of than on weekdays, where most travellers will be business travellers travelling alone and then they would probably opt for the business zone, particularly if they want to use their laptops.

Why leave such good stock in the sidings on weekends, particularly when there is a lots of Xmas shopping, etc. and I expect during, say, a summer Saturday, they'll be families going to London to see, eg the London Eye.

 

[IanXC]

Why leave such good stock in the sidings on weekends, particularly when there is a lots of Xmas shopping, etc. and I expect during, say, a summer Saturday, they'll be families going to London to see, eg the London Eye.

Err maintenance? I think I'm right in saying there are 5 sets, with 1 away for refurbishment, and 3 required in weekday daily service.

 

[ushawk]

If i do pay for a seat everytime i get a ticket, then Southern would be paying me a lot in compensation for not getting me a seat if that was the case

If it was possible then the Loco-hauled sets should be used, but of course maintenance needs to be done. I used the 11.37 Marylebone to Moor Street a few weeks back and it was busy as far as Banbury, then i was the only person in my coach - 15.55 Moor Street to Marylebone (Loco-hauled) was full with a few standing, the business zone was empty though.

 

[t_star2001uk]

At the moment we only have 2 operational mainline sets, Set AL03 and AL05. AL01 and AL04 are at Doncaster at the moment for power door fitting and set AL02 is the Banbury commuter set.

 

[IanXC]

At the moment we only have 2 operational mainline sets, Set AL03 and AL05. AL01 and AL04 are at Doncaster at the moment for power door fitting and set AL02 is the Banbury commuter set.

Even tighter than I thought then. Still it'll be worth it in the end! (Whenever that may be!)

 

[furryfeet]

Even so, why not use them every Saturday until christmas either as "relief" services, or in place of shorter trains ?
You would only incur direct costs i.e. pathing, fuel and train crew - surely better to do something rather than nothing, otherwise you will run the risk of putting people off using Chiltern in the future.

 

[JoeGJ1984]

Re maintenance, well the 165s and 168s are used 7 days a week, so I don't see why that should be a problem (I think most train sets do get used 7 days a week). And in their WMSR days, they were of course used 7 days a week.

I'd think there may be a few 'key' services that might be used by families, etc. on a day trip to London on Saturdays, and the loco-hauled sets could be used on these - after all they've got them, so they might as well use them!

 

[sprinterguy]

Re maintenance, well the 165s and 168s are used 7 days a week, so I don't see why that should be a problem (I think most train sets do get used 7 days a week). And in their WMSR days, they were of course used 7 days a week.

No; Chiltern don't diagram their 165s and 168s, and Wrexham and Shropshire didn't diagram the loco hauled sets, for 100% availability, which is how the loco hauled sets are being diagrammed with Chiltern at the moment, as set out by t_star2001uk. There will be some 165s and 168s out of service for maintenance on any day of the week.

 

[t_star2001uk]

The 172's that we have are the same. 3 sets diagramed to work a few services Monday to Friday and then they sit at Wembley from about 21:00 on Friday to Monday morning. W do use them at weekends for Wembley Event specials.

 

[TDK]

Perhaps on busy Saturdays like yesterday Chiltern could use one or two of their loco hauled trains on the busiest journies.

I would imagine it is very difficult to predict how busy a certain train is going to be and if Chiltern diagram a loco hauled set on a Saturday they may put it on the wrong service, I doubt if there is any way that any company can predict how busy a certain train is going to be unless all the tickets sold are advanced.

 

[embers25]

Also more importantly from a cost perspective the loco hauled sets probably have higher track access charges and require a guard South of Banbury unlike the 168's.