On 21 Jun, 17:00, Paul Corfield wrote:
Silverlink don't seem to attract much by way of bad press these
days which tends to suggest the service simply works well.

Like most of the National Express London Lines franchises, they seem
to get the basics right.


The real test is whether they can get the West Midlands local services
up to scratch and keep them there. There seems to be little enthusiasm
for Central Trains' performance and huge complaints about overcrowding
and reliability.

CT is an interesting company, in that they have an abysmal reputation
everywhere, though their day-to-day service isn't too bad. I think
their weakness lies in the way they handle disruption.


My very limited experience of WM local services has
not been too bad at all to be fair but then I don't have to use them
every day.

Likewise. I've been using the Centro services on recent Saturdays, and
have found them to be extremely reliable. The 323s are in a terrible
state though, and I suspect the 150s are worse.

"BRB Class 465" wrote in message
ups.com...
On 21 Jun, 17:00, Paul Corfield wrote:

My very limited experience of WM local services has
not been too bad at all to be fair but then I don't have to use them
every day.

Likewise. I've been using the Centro services on recent Saturdays, and
have found them to be extremely reliable. The 323s are in a terrible
state though, and I suspect the 150s are worse.


All the indications are that the service often goes down the pan on Sundays,
because currently CT rely on volunteers for Sunday rosters. It'll be
interesting to see if that changes at all...

Paul S

In article . com,
(BRB Class 465) wrote:

CT is an interesting company, in that they have an abysmal
reputation everywhere, though their day-to-day service isn't too bad.
I think their weakness lies in the way they handle disruption.

The 10:09 ex-Cambridge to Stansted has been cancelled twice this week.
Not good for people catching planes.

I hope the split of CT doesn't mean the end of Birmingham Stations fares
from Cambridge. At present it's the same TOC all the way to Selly Oak
with Central Value etc fares available.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

"Colin Rosenstiel" wrote in message
...
In article . com,
(BRB Class 465) wrote:

CT is an interesting company, in that they have an abysmal
reputation everywhere, though their day-to-day service isn't too bad.
I think their weakness lies in the way they handle disruption.

The 10:09 ex-Cambridge to Stansted has been cancelled twice this week.
Not good for people catching planes.

I hope the split of CT doesn't mean the end of Birmingham Stations fares
from Cambridge. At present it's the same TOC all the way to Selly Oak
with Central Value etc fares available.


Isn't that route going to be part of newXC? If Virgin get it you may have to
get used to 'Value Advance' fares...

Paul

In article ,
(Paul Scott) wrote:

"Colin Rosenstiel" wrote in message
...
In article . com,
(BRB Class 465) wrote:

CT is an interesting company, in that they have an abysmal
reputation everywhere, though their day-to-day service isn't too
bad. I think their weakness lies in the way they handle disruption.

The 10:09 ex-Cambridge to Stansted has been cancelled twice this
week. Not good for people catching planes.

I hope the split of CT doesn't mean the end of Birmingham
Stations fares from Cambridge. At present it's the same TOC all the
way to Selly Oak with Central Value etc fares available.

Isn't that route going to be part of newXC? If Virgin get it you
may have to get used to 'Value Advance' fares...

Indeed. But will they continue to be valid past New Street?

--
Colin Rosenstiel