Category: travel

ACCORDING to figures released today by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA),Chiltern Railways continues to have the most satisfied passengers in London & the South East and the West Midlands. The results were published in the latest National Passenger Survey (NPS), covering April to June 2004.

An impressive 88% of Chiltern Railways passengers were very or fairly satisfied with their overall journey in the autumn 2004 survey, compared to 87% in spring 2004. This exceeds the regional average by 14 percentage points and the national average by 12 percentage points. Nationally, Chiltern Railways is second only to Gatwick Express, the airport shuttle service.

Chiltern Railways came top in 13 out of 14 categories for the region and has the most satisfied passengers in Britain in three categories, ticket buying facilities (81% satisfied), overall station environment (81% satisfied) and information about train times/platforms (83% satisfied).

The SRA?s Public Performance Measure (PPM), published at the same time as the survey, shows that Chiltern Railways also ran 91.3% of trains on time, up from 89% the same time last year. This is 6.9 percentage points above the regional average and 8 percentage points above the national average.
Chiltern Railways commercial director Mike Bagshaw commented, ?As demand for our services continues to grow we are committed to continuing to improve our punctuality and quality of services. This year has presented us with a number of challenges, but I would like to thank our passengers for recognising the huge efforts of all of our staff in maintaining a high standard of service throughout and providing a safe, reliable and high quality railway.?

CHILTERN Railways? new timetable starts this Sunday, 12 December. Passengers are reminded to check new train time as most services will be affected.

The changes are the biggest enhancement to Chiltern Railways service since 1998 and will see the daytime train frequency double between Birmingham and London -offering passengers two trains an hour all day, every day of the week.

From this Sunday Chiltern Railways will also take over all services between London, Leamington Spa and Stratford-upon-Avon from Central Trains and First Great Western Link. It will increase frequency of trains to approximately every two hours and offer two brand new commuter trains arriving in London before 9am (one requiring a change at Leamington Spa). A number of stations along Chiltern Railways route will have a direct rail service to Stratford-upon-Avon for the first time.**

Chiltern Railways Managing Director Cath Proctor said, ?This is a significant improvement to our service and a direct response to very strong growth in passenger demand for our services. This is particularly good news for business commuters returning to Birmingham in the afternoon – twice as many trains means increased flexibility and less time to wait at Marylebone. We will also be offering a fantastic service for tourists to Stratford-upon-Avon to the benefit of all businesses in the area.?

Services on the Aylesbury via Amersham line will not see any significant changes, however there will be significant improvements from early 2005 when extra carriages will be added to the busiest departures.

Copies of the new timetable are available from all Chiltern Railways stations or at www.chilternrailways.co.uk For further information call 08456 005 165 or visit the website above.

**Stations with a new direct daily rail service to Stratford-upon-Avon for the first time include London Marylebone, Gerrards Cross, Beaconsfield, High Wycombe, Princes Risborough, Haddenham & Thame Parkway, and Bicester North. The following stations have a new direct service to Stratford-upon-Avon on Sundays only: Wembley Stadium, South Ruislip, West Ruislip and Denham.

EVERY weekend in December until Christmas, the Chinnor Railway will be running its Santa Steam Specials.

Trains run on December 4th/5th, 11th/12th, and 18th/19th at 10.00am, 11.15am, 12.45pm, 2.00pm, 3.15pm and 4.30pm *
( * 4.30pm train will not run on 4th/5th December ).

Santa will be on each train giving out presents to all the Children and seasonal refeshments will be served to all adults at their seats.

A full service Cafeteria is available all day.

Seats are going fast so early booking is essential for this very popular Event.

To book : just phone 01844 354117 between 10.00am and 3.00pm any Saturday or Sunday……….or book online at : www.cprra.co.uk
or visit the Station in Chinnor any Sunday.

Nestling in the foothills of the Chiltern Hills…..an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty…..Chinnor is just over 3 miles from Junction 6 of the M40 motorway.

Further details are at the Railway’s website www.cprra.co.uk……or for Talking timetable or general enquiries please ring 01844 353535.

TRAIN operator, Chiltern Railways, today announced what it claims is the biggest enhancement to its service since 1998.

The company’s new timetable, effective from 12 December 2004, will see daytime train frequency double between Birmingham and London – offering passengers two trains an hour all day, every day of the week. ?Turn up and go? adult off peak fares will still start at just

From this week Chiltern Railways? passengers have the opportunity to trial the latest mobile phone technology which provides them with up-to-the-minute travel information*.

The software, called NOMAD, is provided free of charge and allows people to store train timetables on their mobiles (contract or pay-as-you-go). It also tells users:

If their train is on time, running late or cancelled
If the station car park is full before they leave home, what time the ticket office opens and closes,and
which buses go to and from their station (at selected stations).
Passengers? trialling the technology will be charged a one-off fee of about 10 pence to download the timetables and timetable reader. From then on they can access timetable information FREE OF CHARGE.

Up-to-the-minute travel information, such as finding out if a train is running late, will cost less than a penny. For example, accessing up-to-the-minute travel information on Nomad 100 times a month will cost only about 50p. There are no contracts or hidden charges.

Commuters who want to trial the software need to type www.jnomad.com into their mobile phone?s browser and follow the links. Detailed instructions are available in ?How to Use Nomad? leaflets at all Chiltern Railways stations.

The three month trial will assess whether the service will be offered on an ongoing basis.
For further information please call Chiltern Railways enquiry line on 08456 005 165 or visit www.chilternrailways.co.uk

THAME Police report that, as a result of their use of a Number Plate Recognition device in the Thame sector recently, they have made a number of arrests of drivers who have no car tax.

THE ‘Wibbly Wobbly’ road, the A329 Rycote Lane, will be re-opened on December 3, following weeks of works by Oxfordshire County Council’s Highways Department, to repair the road.
The road surface became dangerously uneven following the drought in the summer of 2003, causing the clay soil under the road to become dried out. Months with a temporary 30mph speed limit along the road, inplace until repair work could be undertaken, caused great frustration among many local drivers.
The repair work, which cost in the region of

THE British public has voted the National Cycle Network, which includes the Phoenix Trail, its first choice for a prestigious National Lottery’s Helping Hand ‘UK Life Award’.
The award, which recognises the National Lottery-funded project that has made the greatest overall impact to UK national life, was announced on Saturday (6th November) at an award ceremony at London’s Tate Modern. The National Cycle Network and Sustrans, the Bristol charity behind it, were short-listed from over 1,000 entries nominated by the public earlier this summer. Over the past two weeks Lottery phone lines have been flooded with calls from fans of the National Cycle Network from across the UK.
John Grimshaw, Sustrans’ Chief Executive said: “The National Cycle Network is truly nationwide. 126 million walking and cycling trips were made in 2003 and we are seeing more and more people using it each year. This award is further confirmation that we are really making an impact by helping more people around the UK to walk and cycle, encouraging healthier lifestyles, reducing car congestion and lowering pollution levels. This is the truly sustainable way to travel. We thank everyone who voted for us, and, of course the National Lottery, who’s funding has allowed us to realise a vision that has already given the UK almost 10,000 miles of National Cycle Network.”
Mike O’Connor CBE, Director of the Millennium Commission said, “The National Cycle Network is a wonderful project and fully merits the National Lottery money provided by the Millennium Commission. It absolutely deserves the prize of being voted one of the nation’s favourite Lottery projects in the first Helping Hand Awards.”
It was the

DUE to track improvement and engineering work this Sunday,October 30, Chiltern Railways is making some changes to its scheduled services.
Before travelling passengers are advised to check for service alterations at their local staffed stations, by calling the Chiltern Railways enquiry line on 08456 005165 (07:00hrs to 20:00hrs) or visiting www.chilternrailways.co.uk where full timetable information is provided.

The work forms part of the Evergreen 2 project, which is set to deliver major passenger benefits once completed. Full details of the project can be found on the company?s website ? www.chilternrailways.co.uk

Service summary
Saturday 29 October