"Cheaper, nicer" London rail alternatives

[John Ashworth]

Cheaper, nicer, better – the train, plane and boat travel alternatives every Londoner should know

Andrew Gilligan
Evening Standard
27.02.09

JAMMED into a backward-facing seat on one of Virgin's hideous Pendolinos, with its smelly toilets, low ceilings, constant amplified announcements, buffet car filled with the worst junk food imaginable, no table to work on, tiny windows (or even, at some seats, no window at all) and the risk of deep-vein thrombosis through lack of legroom, it was hard not to think dark thoughts about the general collapse of civilised service on the nation's private railways.

The truth was, it was as much my fault as Richard Branson's. I could have been sitting on a far more pleasant train, eating a three-course meal, doing the same trip in much greater comfort for less money. Because even in the transport black hole that is Britain, there are pockets of travel quality. It's just that remarkably few people seem to know about them.

Last week, the watchdog Passenger Focus published an exhaustive survey confirming everyone's suspicions that British rail fares are by far the highest in Europe. Yesterday, even the Transport Minister, Lord Adonis, made clear that the days of ever-rising fares had to stop.

Today, as the backlash gathers pace, the Evening Standard tells you where to find those civilised niche alternatives, the back-doubles of the public transport network. What's striking is that relatively few are provided by Britain's six major transport companies - First Group, Stagecoach, Arriva, National Express, Virgin Trains and Go-Ahead - some of which number among the most deservedly toxic brands in Britain.

Using our suggested alternatives will probably lengthen your journey time but at least will not shorten your life.

OUR SUGGESTED ALTERNATIVES

* Fares were those available on the respective companies' websites yesterday. Advance purchase fares are for a journey leaving on 5 March and coming back on 12 March. The cheapest available journey of the day was chosen.

* Note that all the "niche" operators also accept normal walk-on national rail tickets, so it is possible to travel in one direction with them and the other way with their "mainstream" competitor. Obviously, advance-purchase tickets or walk-on fares specific to one operator are not interavailable.

* Punctuality and complaints figures are from the latest issue of National Rail Trends (9 January) and are for the whole operator, not the individual route.

Take the A trains

LONDON TO BIRMINGHAM AND WEST MIDLANDS

Don't use: Virgin from Euston to Birmingham New Street.
Do use: Chiltern from Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street/ Snow Hill. Chiltern (owned by German Railways) is far cheaper and more reliable than Virgin. Its “Clubman” trains on most services on this route are more comfortable and spacious, with seating in bays, rather than airline-style, and plenty of legroom. There are unobstructed window views from most seats and no overhead power lines to come down. The Edwardian termini in both cities are far quieter and more pleasant than Virgin's Sixties horrors at Euston and New Street yet no less central.
Disadvantages: no refreshments, less frequent service and around 40 minutes longer than Virgin.
Cheapest off-peak walk-on return: Chiltern £19.50, Virgin £40.40.
Cheapest peak walk-on return: Chiltern £82, Virgin £132.
Cheapest advance-purchase return: Chiltern £10, Virgin £12.
Typical journey time: Chiltern 2 hrs (to Moor St), Virgin 1 hr 22 min.
Daytime frequency: Chiltern every 30 min, Virgin every 20 min.
Punctuality record: Chiltern 95.9 per cent, Virgin 81.6 per cent.
Complaints per 100,000 passenger journeys: Chiltern 65, Virgin 581.

LONDON TO WEST MIDLANDS, SHROPSHIRE, WALES

Don't use: Virgin.
Do use: Wrexham and Shropshire from Marylebone to Tame Bridge Parkway (for Birmingham), Telford, Shrewsbury and Wrexham.
Wrexham & Shropshire has almost the only “proper” locomotive-hauled trains in Britain, with spacious coaches, picture windows, a table at most seats and excellent catering. All trains have a buffet and a restaurant car serving full meals. Customer service is good because this is a small and personal operation with just three trains. W&S has the only direct trains from London to Telford and Shrewsbury, and almost the only ones to Wrexham. It also runs to Tame Bridge, just north of Birmingham city centre, where there is a large car park and frequent local trains to Birmingham and Walsall. Disadvantages: only five trains a day, and takes longer than taking Virgin and changing.
Fastest journey time (all details are to Shrewsbury): W&S 3 hrs 5 mins, Virgin 2hrs 27 mins.
Departures: W&S from Marylebone at 0645, 1017, 1217, 1633 and 2003 (different at weekends). Virgin has two to three departures an hour.
Cheapest off-peak walk-on return: W&S £41, Virgin £46.
Cheapest peak walk-on return: W&S £125, Virgin £163.
Cheapest advance-purchase return:W&S £20, Virgin £16.50.
New service, so no punctuality or complaints statistics available.

LONDON TO YORKSHIRE AND NORTH EAST ENGLAND

Don't use: National Express East Coast.
Do use: Grand Central Trains from King's Cross to York, Northallerton, Teesside, Hartlepool and Sunderland. Hull Trains to Doncaster, Selby and Hull.
The old East Coast operator, GNER, was one of privatisation's few good deeds but the takeover by National Express has seen a fall in standards. Grand Central's trains are less crowded and nicer but prices appear similar. All are InterCity 125s, often seen as the high point of passenger train design, with tables, better legroom and windows that line up with the seats. Hull Trains was the original independent niche rail operator. Its trains are less good than Grand Central's but better than NatEx's. Its takeover by First has not yet affected standards. Both operators are just as quick as NatEx, quicker for destinations that would otherwise involve a change.
Punctuality record: NatEx 87 per cent, Hull Trains 88.7 per cent. GC and complaints data not available.
Frequency: Grand Central three trains per day. Hull Trains seven trains per day. NatEx two-three per hour to Doncaster and York, about hourly (with a change of train) to the other destinations.
Off-peak walk-on single: Any operator £83 (York), £104 (Sunderland); Grand Central £34 (York), £35 (Sunderland).

Rolling down the river

WOOLWICH, GREENWICH, CANARY WHARF AND ROTHERHITHE TO THE CITY AND WEST END

Don't use: the Tube and overground railways.
Do use: the Thames Clipper riverbus.
Liberate yourself from your subterranean holes and slum rail carriages. Travel to work with the wind in your hair and the matchless spectacle of the world's greatest city before your eyes. Highly civilised service with seats for everyone, a good punctuality record and even a little counter selling tea and coffee. You will have to pay more for your ticket. The single fare (£5) is about twice the train price but if you buy a monthly season ticket (£100) and work within walking distance of one of the central London piers (Tower, London Bridge, Blackfriars, Embankment or Waterloo) you will pay almost the same as a zone 1/2 travelcard. If you live at Woolwich, you will even save money.
Frequency: Every 20 minutes (evenings 30 minutes). Services from 6am- midnight. Woolwich only served at peak times and in the evenings. There is also a limited, rush-hour only service from Putney, Wandsworth, Chelsea Harbour and Cadogan Pier (by the Albert Bridge) to Embankment and Blackfriars.

Flying start

LONDON TO 30 CITIES ACROSS BRITAIN AND EUROPE (AND BEYOND)

Don't use: Heathrow Airport.
Do use: London City Airport.
Unless you live near Heathrow, this marvellous place, in the old Royal Docks, is a no-brainer. The miniumum check-in time is 15 minutes before your flight. Security is quick and it is an airport, not a shopping mall. The DLR runs direct from Bank and Woolwich and connects with the Jubilee line at Canning Town. The short runway means only flights to cities within about 800 miles are possible but there are good long-haul connections via Amsterdam, Frankfurt or Paris.
Disadvantages: no real budget airlines and flights are often, though not always, more expensive. Almost no flights on Saturdays. Occasional fog closes it down.
Direct flights to: Amsterdam, Antwerp, Barcelona, Basel, Berlin, Billund, Brussels, Copenhagen, Dublin, Dundee, Düsseldorf, Edinburgh, Eindhoven, Frankfurt, Geneva, Glasgow, Hamburg, Isle of Man, Jersey, Luxembourg, Madrid, Manchester, Milan Linate, Munich, Nice, Oslo, Paris, Rotterdam, Stockholm, Strasbourg, Warsaw, Zurich.

Kings of the road

LONDON TO OXFORD

Don't use: First Great Western.
Do use: The Oxford Tube/Oxford Espress
By light years Britain's best coach service. Luxurious buses from two rivals (both good, despite being owned by Stagecoach and Go‑Ahead) run up to 10 times an hour, 24 hours a day but do not accept each other's tickets. There is free wi-fi and, on some coaches, free breakfast. Many coaches are double-deck for good views of the countryside. The key to the service's success is the M40, the only motorway all the way into central London. The trip takes longer than the train but the difference is lessened because the coach runs more often and its stops in London and Oxford are more convenient than the stations. It is also much, much cheaper.
Typical journey time: Coach 1hr 40 mins, longer at peak times. Train 57 mins.
Typical frequency: Coach: each company every 15 mins. Train every 30 mins.
Day return: Coach £16 (£13 after 3pm), both also valid to come back next day. Train £20.
Monthly season: Coach £157 (Espress), £173 (Tube). Train £383.70.

LONDON TO THE HOME COUNTIES

Don't use: the train.
Do use: Green Line and commuter coaches.
Only Oxford's coaches can compete with rail on frequency but what others offer is cheaper fares and a guaranteed seat. Regular, all-day Green Line routes (mostly hourly, better in the rush hour) between London and Slough, Windsor, Hemel Hempstead, Luton, Hatfield and Stevenage. Rush-hour-only services from the Medway towns, Sittingbourne, Gravesend, Maidstone, Maidenhead, Royston and Baldock.
Example monthly season prices: Hemel £140 (rail £280.80), Windsor £158 (rail £216.60), Chatham £255 (rail £290). For more details see greenline.co.uk or (for rush-hour-only services) Kings Ferry, New Enterprise, Chalkwell, Clarke's, Reliance Travel, Armchair and Richmond Coaches websites.

CENTRAL LONDON TO HEATHROW (TERMINALS 1-4)

Don't use: Heathrow Express.
Do use: Heathrow Connect.
The Heathrow Express from Paddington is an excellent train but at £16.50 for a 15-minute trip, possibly the world's most expensive. The Heathrow Connect runs exactly the same route, costs almost £10 less, takes only nine minutes longer to Terminals 1,2 and 3 and the same time as the Express to Terminal 4, without needing to change trains.
Disadvantages: runs only every 30 mins (Sundays hourly), does not serve T5.