CHILTERN RAILWAYS is launching accelerated services between London and Birmingham today, complete with a new class of accommodation which will be known as Business Zone.
The fastest of the new 'Chiltern Mainline' trains will be operated by locomotive-hauled stock which became spare after Chiltern's associated open-access company Wrexham & Shropshire ceased trading on 28 January this year.
Forming four daily 'silver trains', the loco-hauled sets will link London and Birmingham with a best time of 90mins. Chiltern is keen to attract some Virgin passengers from the Euston-New Street route by offering a superior class with at-seat service for a much lower premium, which will be £10 or £20 more than standard tickets.
Catering, however, will not be complimentary. Chiltern said it believed that passengers 'did not value paying more than £100 extra for a sandwich, pretzels and a glass of wine', although the Business Zone will offer more space and Wifi. Passengers will be able to buy Business Zone tickets in advance or upgrade on board.
The new services are a result of the £250 million Evergreen 3 project, which has included track upgrades at a number of locations between Marylebone and Moor Street. The faster trains were to have been launched in May, but the project overran amid some controversy, which saw Network Rail take over the management of the upgrades in March, following intervention by the Office of Rail Regulation.
The ORR warned at the time that there were 'significant risks to timescales', which was why it had taken action.
The ORR's director of railway planning and performance, Michael Lee, had said: "The risk of not completing it on time to introduce new services in May had been growing and that was behind the decision to hand over project management to Network Rail."
The project has been a railway version of 'just in time' delivery. The upgrades were only being completed early on 2 September, with the last blockade taking place the previous night. Chiltern told Railnews this final work consisted of tamping, so that speed restrictions could be lifted for the launch today.