Date: 03 Jun 2005
Chiltern Railways will be offering more trains to Stratford-upon-Avon following the success of the new route.
Introduced in December 2004, the direct line from London Marylebone has proved a hit with locals travelling to London and tourists heading to Shakespeare country. And now extra services will be offered in the new timetable, at evenings and weekends.
Several minor changes will also be made to the timings of evening peak services on the High Wycombe line which runs from Birmingham, through Banbury to London Marylebone. Although an average of more than 92.6% of Chiltern Railways’ services run on time already, the slight alterations to stopping patterns and departure times should help improve punctuality still further.
One of the changes being introduced is the better spacing of trains from London Marylebone to reduce delays caused by congestion at Neasden Junction (north London).
Chiltern Railways’ Marketing Manager, David Whitley said: “We have only been running trains from London Marylebone to Stratford-upon-Avon for 6 months, but during that time we have already witnessed strong growth in passenger numbers. The changes being introduced will hopefully help us to build on the success so far and pave the way for further improvements in the years ahead.”
Other changes to the timetable include:
· Changes to early morning and late night trains to and from London Marylebone in preparation for the opening of the new maintenance depot at Wembley later in the summer
· Trains on the Aylesbury – Princes Risborough line will leave three minutes earlier in order to improve the connection time for onward services to the West Midlands
· An extra train to Paddington each day (bringing it to two a day) to ensure that more train drivers are familiar with this ‘diversionary’ route
Notes to Editors
1. The new timetable starts on Sunday 12 June, and runs until early December.
2. For full details, please see the new pocket timetable, available from any staffed station, or by contacting the Press Office.
3. For more information about train times and fares, please call 08456 005 165, or visit the website at www.chilternrailways.co.uk
4. Chiltern Railways’ latest public performance figures show that 92.5% of its services arrived on time or early in the past 12 months, a figure which exceeds a key condition of its franchise commitment.
5. Chiltern Railways is owned by M40 Trains. All shares in M40 Trains are owned by Laing Investments Ltd through Laing Rail Ltd
