snuk
Member
Hi all,
Just wanted to let you know about what I got up to on Thursday using a WMDR.
I had a meeting in Warwick so decided to make a day of it and take my time getting back because the WMDR is only about £3 more than the anytime return.
Got a bit lost between New Street and Moor Street - don't know how - went round the back of New Street somehow and followed the signs for Moor Street Car Park. Had to go to Warwick again on Friday with an anytime return but actually noticed all the pedestrian signage that time!
First time on Chiltern between BMO and WRW - quite impressed. Haven't been to Warwick for about 15 years - the station is nearer to the town than I remember.
Spent about an hour in Warwick and decided to return to Birmingham via Leamington to with Chiltern then CrossCountry thinking the XC would be quicker. Normally, I don't praise XC too often but I think the Class 220 train had recently been refurbished and the staff were very pleasant.
Now, I have a big thing for Pendolinos - I know they are not perfect and they've had more than their fair share of problems and I appreciate the issues that some people have with them, but they are my favourite train at the moment, and my favourite TOC, Virgin. As such, for a while I've been waiting to travel on 390 022, Penny the Pendolino.
Also, when using a WMDR ticket, if I'm on a different train, I often change at New Street or Coventry to catch the next Pendolino. I appreciate that Virgin don't "officially" accept the WMDR but I've never had any problems and I'm always ready to pay for a full ticket if necessary.
My main reason for using a WMDR on Thursday was that I've been really unwell recently and a bit down and using a WMDR for the day always cheers me up. I was on the XC Voyager from Leamington on my way back to New Street but for some reason I decided to change at Coventry even though I had a really good seat with stacks of legroom (which is a priority for me being over 6 feet tall) and a view.
I leave the XC 220 at Cov and look for the next Pendo into New Street, make my way to the platform and take a seat on the bench. About 10 minutes later the Pendo is pulling into the station slowly and guess which one it is......I see her number - 390 022 !! - Penny!! Most people won't appreciate how much that cheered me up but some of you guys might.
She's a bit busy but I manage to find a seat. There appears to be an automated announcement system on the Pendos now which I haven't noticed before and this one had a problem so the system kept making announcements over and over again. But the train manager, a very pleasant Scottish chap called Steve, came over the PA to apologise for the "woman not shutting up"
which required the train to be rebooted at BHM which would take 15 minutes or something. But the thing that I like and always appreciate is that the TM apologised AND explained what the problem was.
Getting back from BHM to NUN was a bit of a problem. In my infinite wisdom I decided to try and return via Rugby due to a very nice trip that I had between NUN and RUG with LM a few months ago thinking this route would be less hassle than the usual early evening rush with XC BHM-STA.
I catch the next VT from BHM to RUG only to be advised at Rugby that the regular trains NUN to RUG only run during the daytime. I asked them the quickest way back to Nuneaton - via Coventry or New Street - and was advised to return via New Street, so I went back to New Street with a 5 minute transfer to the next Stansted train
Anyway, the 1822 to Stansted was delayed - in the end by 30 minutes due to a problem - may have required BTP assistance because 2 BTP lads were waiting for the train. The whole platform was crowded with passengers so I knew my chances of getting a seat were none existent as usual.
So, just as the delayed 1822 BHM-STA arrived there was the 1852 (I think) BHM-LEI was about the arrive so I decided to change platform at catch the Leicester train instead. But this train waited on the platform and left BHM about 20 minutes late. Annoyingly the 1822 arrived as a two train set, which split at BHM even though the 1822 is always busy? Here's hoping that AXC fix that with the next timetable.
When I travelled to Warwick on Friday I came back through BHM to NUN about three hours earlier and noticed the BHM-LEI train was due to form the 1722 (I think) BHM to STA train - almost the entire coach I was travelling in was reserved for the 1722 - the reservation tickets were already in place - there were only a few seats not reserved, which to me gives some indication on just how busy the late afternoon/early evening trains between Birmingham and Cambridge/Stansted actually are.
Thanks for reading and take care,
Kind regards,
Steve.
Just wanted to let you know about what I got up to on Thursday using a WMDR.
I had a meeting in Warwick so decided to make a day of it and take my time getting back because the WMDR is only about £3 more than the anytime return.
Got a bit lost between New Street and Moor Street - don't know how - went round the back of New Street somehow and followed the signs for Moor Street Car Park. Had to go to Warwick again on Friday with an anytime return but actually noticed all the pedestrian signage that time!
First time on Chiltern between BMO and WRW - quite impressed. Haven't been to Warwick for about 15 years - the station is nearer to the town than I remember.
Spent about an hour in Warwick and decided to return to Birmingham via Leamington to with Chiltern then CrossCountry thinking the XC would be quicker. Normally, I don't praise XC too often but I think the Class 220 train had recently been refurbished and the staff were very pleasant.
Now, I have a big thing for Pendolinos - I know they are not perfect and they've had more than their fair share of problems and I appreciate the issues that some people have with them, but they are my favourite train at the moment, and my favourite TOC, Virgin. As such, for a while I've been waiting to travel on 390 022, Penny the Pendolino.
Also, when using a WMDR ticket, if I'm on a different train, I often change at New Street or Coventry to catch the next Pendolino. I appreciate that Virgin don't "officially" accept the WMDR but I've never had any problems and I'm always ready to pay for a full ticket if necessary.
My main reason for using a WMDR on Thursday was that I've been really unwell recently and a bit down and using a WMDR for the day always cheers me up. I was on the XC Voyager from Leamington on my way back to New Street but for some reason I decided to change at Coventry even though I had a really good seat with stacks of legroom (which is a priority for me being over 6 feet tall) and a view.
I leave the XC 220 at Cov and look for the next Pendo into New Street, make my way to the platform and take a seat on the bench. About 10 minutes later the Pendo is pulling into the station slowly and guess which one it is......I see her number - 390 022 !! - Penny!! Most people won't appreciate how much that cheered me up but some of you guys might.
She's a bit busy but I manage to find a seat. There appears to be an automated announcement system on the Pendos now which I haven't noticed before and this one had a problem so the system kept making announcements over and over again. But the train manager, a very pleasant Scottish chap called Steve, came over the PA to apologise for the "woman not shutting up"
which required the train to be rebooted at BHM which would take 15 minutes or something. But the thing that I like and always appreciate is that the TM apologised AND explained what the problem was.Getting back from BHM to NUN was a bit of a problem. In my infinite wisdom I decided to try and return via Rugby due to a very nice trip that I had between NUN and RUG with LM a few months ago thinking this route would be less hassle than the usual early evening rush with XC BHM-STA.
I catch the next VT from BHM to RUG only to be advised at Rugby that the regular trains NUN to RUG only run during the daytime. I asked them the quickest way back to Nuneaton - via Coventry or New Street - and was advised to return via New Street, so I went back to New Street with a 5 minute transfer to the next Stansted train
Anyway, the 1822 to Stansted was delayed - in the end by 30 minutes due to a problem - may have required BTP assistance because 2 BTP lads were waiting for the train. The whole platform was crowded with passengers so I knew my chances of getting a seat were none existent as usual.
So, just as the delayed 1822 BHM-STA arrived there was the 1852 (I think) BHM-LEI was about the arrive so I decided to change platform at catch the Leicester train instead. But this train waited on the platform and left BHM about 20 minutes late. Annoyingly the 1822 arrived as a two train set, which split at BHM even though the 1822 is always busy? Here's hoping that AXC fix that with the next timetable.
When I travelled to Warwick on Friday I came back through BHM to NUN about three hours earlier and noticed the BHM-LEI train was due to form the 1722 (I think) BHM to STA train - almost the entire coach I was travelling in was reserved for the 1722 - the reservation tickets were already in place - there were only a few seats not reserved, which to me gives some indication on just how busy the late afternoon/early evening trains between Birmingham and Cambridge/Stansted actually are.
Thanks for reading and take care,
Kind regards,
Steve.