I travelled from Milton Keynes to Euston earlier. I was astounded by
the range of tickets on offer - I had the option on travelling in
style and comfort on 21st century trains (Pendolinos) or alternatively
travel more cheaply with Silverlink County services. I opted for the
latter as there was a fast train anyway which called at Watford and
Euston.

Any regular Milton Keynes passengers here care to say more about the
fares system here? It's obviously good for people to get the choice
of how much they want to pay based on journey time. Who gets the most
passengers between the two stations, I wonder? Does VT have more
commuters than Silverlink (I presume there are cheaper silverlink-only
season tickets)?

"Cameron Davies" wrote in message
om...
I travelled from Milton Keynes to Euston earlier. I was astounded by
the range of tickets on offer - I had the option on travelling in
style and comfort on 21st century trains (Pendolinos) or alternatively
travel more cheaply with Silverlink County services. I opted for the
latter as there was a fast train anyway which called at Watford and
Euston.

All Virgin services are not all Pendolinos.

Any regular Milton Keynes passengers here care to say more about the
fares system here? It's obviously good for people to get the choice
of how much they want to pay based on journey time. Who gets the most
passengers between the two stations, I wonder? Does VT have more
commuters than Silverlink (I presume there are cheaper silverlink-only
season tickets)?

Silverlink are cheaper, but pick up pax at smaller stations along the route
such as Tring, Cheddington, Hemel Hempsted, Leighton Buzzard and more
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"Cameron Davies" wrote in message
om...
I travelled from Milton Keynes to Euston earlier. I was astounded by
the range of tickets on offer - I had the option on travelling in

As a long time Milton Keynes resident, when I visit London or B'ham
International* I never bother to check on train times. I simply find a free
parking place (getting more difficult, but I have strong principles against
paying for parking in MK), walk to station and get the next SL train. Same on
return, get to Euston (or B'ham Intl) and walk on to the next SL train listed on
the departure board. I rarely need to wait more than 15 minutes.
It's a different situation with respect to what used to be InterCity used by my
relatives when visiting me. Services to and from the Fylde Coast & Manchester
areas became so completely unreliable (frequent 2-3 hour delays) that several
years ago we moved to travelling by car, and haven't regretted it.
*Frequently my tickets for exhibitions at the NEC offer free parking, and that
is quite attractive versus the daily charges near MK station.
--
M Stewart
Milton Keynes, UK
www.megalith.freeserve.co.uk/oddimage.htm
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/ms1938/

On Sat, 10 Jan 2004 09:29:24 +0000, Malcolm Stewart wrote:

snip
InterCity used by my relatives when visiting me. Services to and from
the Fylde Coast & Manchester areas became so completely unreliable
(frequent 2-3 hour delays) that several years ago we moved to travelling
by car, and haven't regretted it.snip

I've lived in MK for just over two years, and relatively frequently travel
(mostly at the weekend) to and from the North West, both by train and car.
I can honestly say the (usually short) delays I have encountered when
travelling by rail are nothing to what the M6 and M1 cause on regular
occasions.

Things may improve with the M6 Toll, but seeing as I tend to get delayed
more around the Keele/Stafford area (no good parallelling A-roads there,
either) than in Birmingham, I don't hold out a lot of hope.

Neil

"Neil Williams" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 10 Jan 2004 09:29:24 +0000, Malcolm Stewart wrote:

I've lived in MK for just over two years, and relatively frequently travel
(mostly at the weekend) to and from the North West, both by train and car.
I can honestly say the (usually short) delays I have encountered when
travelling by rail are nothing to what the M6 and M1 cause on regular
occasions.

Things may improve with the M6 Toll, but seeing as I tend to get delayed
more around the Keele/Stafford area (no good parallelling A-roads there,
either) than in Birmingham, I don't hold out a lot of hope.

Must agree that when I stuck to the M1, M6 (and M6, M1 return) delays were
frequently quite bad, but having had to do this run every weekend for many
months when sorting out my late father's estate, I found other more reliable
routes - using the A5, A34 initially, and more recently the dual carriage A50.
I now use the A50 to get from the M1 jnct 23A as far as Stoke, and then the A500
to the A34 south of Congleton. It's not the fastest route, but I have enough
local knowledge to bypass the rare holdup, and I normally arrive in a good
temper.

--
M Stewart
Milton Keynes, UK
www.megalith.freeserve.co.uk/oddimage.htm
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/ms1938/

Cameron Davies wrote:
I travelled from Milton Keynes to Euston earlier. I was astounded by
the range of tickets on offer - I had the option on travelling in
style and comfort on 21st century trains (Pendolinos) or alternatively
travel more cheaply with Silverlink County services. I opted for the
latter as there was a fast train anyway which called at Watford and
Euston.

Any regular Milton Keynes passengers here care to say more about the
fares system here? It's obviously good for people to get the choice
of how much they want to pay based on journey time. Who gets the most
passengers between the two stations, I wonder? Does VT have more
commuters than Silverlink (I presume there are cheaper silverlink-only
season tickets)?

Your ticket is also valid MK-Bletchley-Bedford-St Pancras or
Thameslink and MK-bus to luton/airport-St Pancras or Thameslink

On Tue, 13 Jan 2004 15:04:43 +0000, R W wrote:

Your ticket is also valid MK-Bletchley-Bedford-St Pancras or
Thameslink and MK-bus to luton/airport-St Pancras or Thameslink

While the former may be valid (I think it unlikely but not impossible) it
is definitely NOT valid via the latter. Only tickets explicitly issued to
the bus destinations (LUTON AIR BUS MK) are valid on the bus. I'm not
aware (as it's a Virgin rail link) of there being an explicit through
ticket in the other direction, and there is no scope for RailLinks
services to form the middle of a journey with rail at each end on a single
ticket (which is particularly silly for this service and, for that matter,
the X5).

*If* (and only if) the former is valid, however, you will be valid to pay
the bus fare then use your existing ticket from Luton (being south of
Bedford) to London by whatever route.

Clive?

Neil