London Midland Great Escape is back!

[furryfeet]

It depends. If you're out on the mainline routes, want a guaranteed seat and table, and want a comfy seat then yes you could say it is good value. Doing 3.5 hours on a 350/2 to Crewe is NOT particularly brilliant, and a couple of turns a day still end up being a /2. Near peak times, it is going to get busy so FC will give you a seat for sure!

If you're wanting to do the local routes, round Snow Hill etc then probably not worth it at all!

Having tried 1st class, when the previous "Great Escape" was on, then I would say that it is marginal as to whether 1st class on LM is better. The seats seem hard and narrow compared to 2nd class and indeed, it is often easier to spread out in 2nd rather than 1st. Unless of course, as stated above,one rates the privacy of 1st and the almost guaranteed chance of getting a seat.

Having said that, I only travelled north of Tamworth, so I cannot say from experience, how full the trains get in the London area.

Perhaps LM will change the seats in 1st at some point, to be wider, softer and in a 2+1 formation, rather like the ex Midland 170's were, BEFORE arriva ripped them all out !

 

[RJ]

Is this £5 Peak Supplement an Unlimited Supplement?

What is an "unlimited supplement?"

 

[theblackwatch]

What is an "unlimited supplement?"

I assume he means is it a supplement per train travelled on out of Euston, or if the £5 allows him to travel on multiple trains out of Euston between 154.0 and 19.00 that evening (presumable 350 scratching!).

 

[jaigee]

Having tried 1st class, when the previous "Great Escape" was on, then I would say that it is marginal as to whether 1st class on LM is better. The seats seem hard and narrow compared to 2nd class and indeed, it is often easier to spread out in 2nd rather than 1st. Unless of course, as stated above,one rates the privacy of 1st and the almost guaranteed chance of getting a seat.

Having said that, I only travelled north of Tamworth, so I cannot say from experience, how full the trains get in the London area.

Perhaps LM will change the seats in 1st at some point, to be wider, softer and in a 2+1 formation, rather like the ex Midland 170's were, BEFORE arriva ripped them all out !

I use LM FC all the time and as you say it is only marginally better. There are only two full tables, all the rest are aircraft seats with a folding tray.

The 2+2 seating only differs from standard in having a rudimentary tilt with slightly more leg room and an antimacassar. No seat rerservations are available, so when I travel in a group of three or more we invariably are scattered over the compartment - not good.

Reasonable value if you book in advance, but very poor if you have an open ticket.

Incidentally, has anyone noticed that the power socket label calls it a "plug", also the diagram for the seat tilt is a physical impossibility - the seat squab magically grows longer while the sliding pivot point remains fixed!

 

[London_Midland]

The supplement is, in theory, unlimited!

 

[RJ]

This is aimed at David at LM, it's a great pity you can not allow an earlier time for using the Great Escape ticket if travelling from Liverpool or Runcorn to London. I have used this service whenever the offer as been available and find it great value but unfortunately the first train from Runcorn ( my nearest station ) is not until 10.25 which give a London arrival of 13.49 which is a bit late in the day. There is a train at 09.25 ( Runcorn ) which I can not use because of the 09.30 start time. To much to ask but the 08.24 would be even better if allowed giving customers a few more hours in London. Can you look into this possibility please ???

Some easements have been introduced. Those coming from stations beyond Rugby may use the 08:33 Crewe to Euston and 08:53 Birmingham New Street to Euston services.

 

[Simon Poole]

As people know the Great Escape is back but this time, this time they made some changes to it, if you depart London with it between 1540 and 1900 you have to pay an extra £5.00

Also the first train you can use on the WCML is on the 0833 Crewe to London Euston, i find this dissapointing becuase i always use the 0733 to get to London and the 1829 from London

Does anyone finds the Great Escape disapointing this year?

 

[43167]

Not done one this time, but the extra restrictions are a little dissapointing.

 

[HST125]

Hi all,

As it was my day off today, I chose to take advantage of this deal...pushed the boat out and chose to pay the additional £10 for First Class.

I travelled on a London Euston to Crewe train, changing at Rugby for a train towards Birmingham. Got off en-route at Birmingham International as I wanted to have a quick look around the airport, and then proceeded onwards to Birmingham New Steet.

Having walked around the Bullring Shopping Centre and eating lunch at Pizza Hut, I then went to Birmingham Moor Street and caught a train to Stratford-Upon-Avon, but the trains on this particular route do not have First Class so had to sit in Standard, but wasn't too fussed.

Stopped in SAV for about an hour, and then went back into Birmingham, and a quick change over from Moor Street to New Street, for my return journey back to London, again via Rugby.

First Class was really nice and comfortable, and I also had the benefit of a power socket so I could use my laptop during the journey. I got a complimentary cup of tea whilst on my journey from London to Rugby, however, there was no refreshment service offered on the return sector.

Overall, a grand day out, and at a bargain price of just £20, it was fantastic value, and I look forward to being able to make use of this offer if/when it is running again.

 

[BlythPower]

A quick note about the supplement for leaving London in the afternoon peak. It really doesn't seem possible to buy this anywhere except the LM ticket office at Euston (tucked away on platform 11 with no signage to point you to it). I tried at Coventry station when getting the GE ticket - 'don't have the code for it'. Tried again on the train down to London - 'can't issue it but the guard coming on at Northampton can'. Needless to say there was no sign of this other guard at all. The Euston LM ticket office were thankfully spot on - knew what the supplement was and how to issue it!

 

[lyesbkz]

Why do LM neglect to mention that their "complimentary items" are not actually complimentary at weekends? Feels like the extra £10 is genuinely pointless now!

 

[yorkie]

A quick note about the supplement for leaving London in the afternoon peak. It really doesn't seem possible to buy this anywhere except the LM ticket office at Euston (tucked away on platform 11 with no signage to point you to it). I tried at Coventry station when getting the GE ticket - 'don't have the code for it'. Tried again on the train down to London - 'can't issue it but the guard coming on at Northampton can'. Needless to say there was no sign of this other guard at all. The Euston LM ticket office were thankfully spot on - knew what the supplement was and how to issue it!

I really think you are worrying too much! The excess is the same on board the train if & when the guard checks your ticket he or she will issue you it at the same price as from the ticket office.

Why do LM neglect to mention that their "complimentary items" are not actually complimentary at weekends? Feels like the extra £10 is genuinely pointless now!

Aren't they? Did you experience a problem with one of the trains that was advertised as having catering, not actually having that facility or were you charged? The list can be found here:-

http://www.londonmidland.com/your-journey/onboard-catering/

Note that the list is not very long at weekends, but it does exist.

 

[RJ]

A quick note about the supplement for leaving London in the afternoon peak. It really doesn't seem possible to buy this anywhere except the LM ticket office at Euston (tucked away on platform 11 with no signage to point you to it). I tried at Coventry station when getting the GE ticket - 'don't have the code for it'. Tried again on the train down to London - 'can't issue it but the guard coming on at Northampton can'. Needless to say there was no sign of this other guard at all. The Euston LM ticket office were thankfully spot on - knew what the supplement was and how to issue it!

I should think so as well, can't imagine they've been selling much else on weekday afternoons over the last couple of weeks.

 

[lyesbkz]

Did you experience a problem with one of the trains that was advertised as having catering, not actually having that facility or were you charged?

It was one of the ones advertised and having catering, I did give them a ring up and they told me it must have been a mistake (my guess is the conductor wasn't aware of the new changes). If I bother to send my receipt off, I can have my £1.30 refunded, apparently!