Golden Whistle blows for Chiltern Railways

CHILTERN Railways has picked up an award recognising its operational performance during the past 12 months.

The company, which operates the Mainline services between Birmingham Moor Street and London Marylebone, received the Golden Whistle award in recognition of its strong record for service punctuality and continued improvement.

The Golden Whistle Awards, now in their fifth year, are organised by the Institute of Railway Operators (IRO) and Modern Railways magazine and are designed to recognise operational excellence.

Andrew Munden, operations and safety director at Chiltern Railways, said: “These awards reinforce our hard work and commitment in ensuring that we give them a fast, flexible service upon which they can rely.”

The win is the latest in a list of successes for the firm, which has seen it named top rail franchise operator for 2013 for punctuality, based on figures released by Network Rail. The performance is key as it places the firm ahead of rivals Virgin Trains and London Midland.

London Midland revises Stourbridge timetable after passenger feedback 

TRAIN operator London Midland has launched a new timetable for the shuttle service that connects Stourbridge Junction and Stourbridge Town following comments from users.

The new timetable is aimed at improving connection times with London Midland services departing from Stourbridge Junction station.

Terry Oliver, London Midland’s head of route for Snow Hill services said: “We made a number of changes to the Snow Hill lines timetable in December 2013, implementing an hourly stop at Hartlebury for the first time in almost 50 years, and an improved service linking Solihull and Stratford upon Avon.

“The impact of these timetable amendments was that it changed the arrival and departure time of services at Stourbridge Junction, which meant passengers using the connecting shuttle service having to wait longer than the usual two to three minutes.”

Rail users praise operator for levels of service to Birmingham Airport 

RAIL users travelling to Birmingham Airport have praised the facility for its high level of service.

In a customer satisfaction survey conducted by the consumer magazine Which? , Birmingham showed a clean pair of heels to its UK peers.

Virgin Trains, which runs services between Birmingham New Street and Birmingham International, achieved the highest score in the poll with 87% of customers expressing a liking for the low fares for a single journey to the airport.  

The survey also saw the rail passengers compliment the service on luggage space, cleanliness and comfort of the trains.

The survey also highlighted the dissatisfaction amongst passengers for rail services serving the three London airports, especially for the journey prices.