Chiltern Railways

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Franchise(s):	Chiltern 1996 – 2002 2002 – 2022*
Main route(s):	Chiltern Main Line
Other route(s):	London to Aylesbury Line Princes Risborough to Aylesbury Line Leamington to Stratford Line
Fleet size:	39 Class 165 Turbo sets 19 Class 168 Clubman sets 1 Class 121 ‘Bubble Car’
Stations called at:	62
National Rail abbreviation:	CH
Parent company:	Laing Rail
Web site:	www.chilternrailways.co.uk

Chiltern Railways operate 19 Class 168 Clubman units. These trains were the first to be ordered in Britain since the railways were privatised. The Class 168s are the mainstay of express services to Birmingham and Kidderminster.

Chiltern Railways is a train operating company in England. It was formed by the privatisation of British Rail in 1996 and it operates train mainline services from Marylebone station in London, to Aylesbury and Birmingham Snow Hill. Initially the line was franchised to a company formed by the British Rail managers of the route, but since 2003 has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Laing Rail, who owned a much smaller shareholding at privatisation. In 2002 a new up to 20 year franchise began which promises significant investment in the route - the 20 year term being conditional on various investments and improvements over the life of the franchise.

[edit] Routes

Chiltern operate services on four routes.

• Chiltern Main Line
• London to Aylesbury Line
• Princes Risborough to Aylesbury Line
• Leamington to Stratford Line

The London Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill route used by Chiltern Railways goes via High Wycombe, Bicester, Banbury, Leamington Spa, Warwick Parkway, Dorridge and Solihull. Although the fastest timetabled journey between London and Birmingham via this route is 1 hour and 56 minutes, most express services take 2 hours and 5 minutes with semi-fast services sometimes taking up to 2 hours and 30 minutes (compared with approximately 1 hour and 35 minutes using Virgin Trains services between London Euston and Birmingham New Street). Some trains continue beyond Birmingham Snow Hill station to Stourbridge or Kidderminster, where the preserved steam Severn Valley Railway starts at the adjacent Kidderminster Town.

The line to Aylesbury via Amersham shares tracks with London Underground's Metropolitan Line between Harrow-on-the-Hill and Amersham. On certain Bank Holiday Mondays services are extended from Aylesbury to the Buckinghamshire Railway Heritage Centre facilities at Quainton Road, a short way south of Verney Junction. These services are often run by Chiltern's Class 121 diesel multiple unit, referred to as a "bubble car".

A shuttle service operates on the branch line from Aylesbury to Princes Risborough on the line to Birmingham via High Wycombe. Certain services from Marylebone via High Wycombe also provide a limited through service to Aylesbury.

In 2004 Chiltern Railways took over the operation of passenger services on the Leamington Spa to Stratford-upon-Avon branch line.

Chiltern's newly formed sister company, Wrexham & Shropshire, runs services from North Wales along the Chiltern route to London. The service began on the 28th April 2008.

Chiltern were also asked to bid for the Snow Hill Lines of the former Central Trains area of Birmingham as part of the new West Midlands Franchise competition. However the bid was unsuccessful.

Chiltern is the first train operator to pilot - and subsequently implement - a full system for purchasing, retailing, fulfilling and validating train tickets electronically in the United Kingdom. As of April 2008, over 18,000 "E-Day" customers have registered to use the service and more than 40,000 electronic tickets have been sold; mainly as barcodes delivered as text messages to the mobile phones of their customers and also as 'Self-Print' tickets. Chiltern's electronic ticketing system is specified, built, operated and maintained by YourRail, based in Barnsley, Yorkshire.

[edit] Services

Chiltern Railways operate a single Class 121 "Bubble Car" on Aylesbury to Princes Risborough shuttles.

The "core" off-peak Chiltern Railways timetable currently comprises the following services:

• Half-hourly London Marylebone - Aylesbury via Amersham stopping service
• Hourly London Marylebone - High Wycombe stopping service
• Hourly London Marylebone - Princes Risborough stopping service
• Half-hourly London Marylebone - Birmingham Snow Hill via High Wycombe semi-fast service
• Hourly London Marylebone - Bicester North via High Wycombe semi-fast service (extended to Stratford-upon-Avon in even hours)

In addition, Chiltern Railways runs one train a day to and from London Paddington to keep traincrew route knowledge up-to-date, as the route is regularly used for diversions during periods of engineering work, and one train a day from Birmingham Snow Hill to Oxford.

[edit] Performance

The latest performance figures, published by the ORR (Office of Rail Regulation), rate Chiltern Railways as the most punctual train operating company in the UK at 95.6% (PPM) and 94.4% (MAA) as of the third quarter of the financial year 2007/8.^[1]

[edit] Rolling Stock

Chiltern Railways operates services using a modern fleet of Class 165 "Turbo" and 168 "Clubman" units. The "Turbo" units have undergone refurbishment work at Bombardier's Ilford Works, and the Class 168s have recently been lengthened. Chiltern also operates a single Class 121 "Bubble Car" on its Aylesbury to Princes Risborough heritage route. This unit was extensively refurbished, and operates the majority of the services on the line. In 2008, Chiltern ordered four 2-car Class 172 "Turbostar" units to increase their capacity.

[edit] Current fleet

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Cars per set	Unit Numbers	Number	Routes operated	Built
			mph	km/h
Class 121 ‘Bubble Car’		diesel multiple unit	70	112	1	121020	1	Princes Risborough to Aylesbury Line	1960
Class 165/0 Turbo		diesel multiple unit	75	120	2/3	165001-165039	39	Chiltern Main Line London to Aylesbury Line	1990 - 1992
Class 168/0 Clubman		diesel multiple unit	100	160	4	168001-168005	5	Chiltern Main Line London to Aylesbury Line	1997-1998
Class 168/1 Clubman		diesel multiple unit	100	160	3/4	168106-168113 168214-168219	14	Chiltern Main Line London to Aylesbury Line	2000-2004

[edit] Future Fleet

'Tesco' Tunnel prior to the collapse

[edit] Gerrards Cross incident

A tunnel being constructed near the Gerrards Cross railway station to enable the construction of a new Tesco store collapsed at 19:30 on 30 June 2005. Nobody was injured but the line was closed for over six weeks. It eventually reopened on 20 August 2005. Compensation by Tesco to Chiltern is believed to have cost at least £8.5m and the retailer has pledged to fund a media campaign to win back passengers lost by the closure of its route.

[edit] Future

[edit] Ownership

Chiltern Railways Route Map

Legend Kidderminster Blakedown Hagley Stourbridge Junction Lye Cradley Heath Old Hill Rowley Regis M5 Motorway Langley Green Smethwick Galton Bridge The Hawthorns Jewellery Quarter Birmingham Snow Hill Birmingham Moor Street Small Heath Tyseley Acocks Green Olton Solihull ( trains for Birmingham) Widney Manor M42 Motorway Dorridge Stratford-upon-Avon Wilmcote Bearley Lapworth Claverdon M40 Motorway Hatton Warwick Parkway A46 Warwick Bypass Warwick Leamington Spa M40 Motorway Banbury M40 Motorway King's Sutton M40 Motorway M40 Motorway A34 Western Bypass Bicester North Oxford Aylesbury Vale Parkway Aylesbury Stoke Mandeville Haddenham and Thame Parkway Wendover Little Kimble Monks Risborough Princes Risborough Saunderton Great Missenden High Wycombe Amersham Chalfont & Latimer Beaconsfield Chorleywood Seer Green & Jordans M25 Motorway Gerrards Cross Rickmansworth M25 Motorway Denham Golf Club Denham West Ruislip South Ruislip Harrow-on-the-Hill Northolt Park Sudbury Hill Harrow ( Sudbury Hill) Sudbury & Harrow Road Wembley Stadium London Paddington ( trains for Heathrow) London Marylebone

On 6th July 2007, Henderson Fund Managers, the owner of John Laing, announced the sale of its Chiltern Railway subsidiary, as it wants to focus on its public infrastructure portfolio.^[2] Arriva plc and Go-Ahead Group both expressed an interest in acquiring the company,^[3][4]but the final bidders are Germany's Deutsche Bahn and the Dutch NedRail.^[5]

In January 2008 it was announced that the Laing Rail company had been sold to Deutsche Bahn^[6]. Once approval from the Department for Transport, Transport for London and the Office of Rail Regulation has been granted, the company will become part of DB Regio. The Chiltern Railways management and brand will remain unchanged.

[edit] Route

There are several suggested plans for this route:

• The restoration of the quadruple track between South Ruislip (Northolt Junction) and West Ruislip, allowing trains to call at both stations without blocking the line. Triple track currently exists at West Ruislip, with the up platform loop still in situ, and at South Ruislip, with the Down Main through line also in situ. This would involve the reconstruction of the down platform at West Ruislip, the reconstruction of the up platform at South Ruislip, and the demolition of West Ruislip signalbox. This 'Chiltern Metro' service was not programmed in to the last round of franchising agreements.

• Restoration of fast through lines at Beaconsfield. This project has been shelved; the existing lines have been realigned and can now be traversed by locomotive-hauled trains at 50 miles (80 km) an hour, and by the Chiltern DMUs at 75 miles (121 km) an hour.

• Double track the line from Princes Risborough to Aylesbury.

• Remodelling Banbury Station and tracks.

• Building of the West Hampstead Interchange to allow easy interchange with the London Overground, Jubilee Line, Metropolitan Line and First Capital Connect service. This would also give Chiltern Railways an interchange with the future Orbirail line.

• New Chiltern Metro Service that would operate 4+tph for Wembley Stadium, Sudbury & Harrow Road, Sudbury Hill Harrow, Northolt Park, South Ruislip and West Ruislip. This would require a reversing facility at West Ruislip, passing loops at Sudbury Hill Harrow and a passing loop at Wembley Stadium (part of the old down fast line is in use as a central reversing siding, for stock movements and additionally for 8-car football shuttles to convey passengers to the stadium for events).^[7]

• Re-opening the line between Oxford and Princes Risborough^[8], which would provide an alternative to the Oxford-Paddington route. The Oxford to Banbury spur would then be handed over to the Chiltern Main Line to create a diversionary loop from Princes Risborough to Banbury via Oxford. This option requires an expensive crossing of the M40 motorway.

• Building a connection at Bicester to the Oxford to Bicester Line, allowing direct trains from Marylebone to Oxford via Bicester Town^[8].

• Re-opening the passenger line between Aylesbury and Bedford via Milton Keynes^[8].

• A new station, Aylesbury Vale Parkway, is under construction to serve a planned residential development in the area^[9]. This station will also improve access from those parts of Buckinghamshire not at present directly served by the rail network. This project is being funded by Buckinghamshire County Council, Laing Rail and the DFT and Communities and Local Government Department via the Communities Infrastructure Fund.

• Opening a rail line from Aylesbury to a M6-M1 Parkway Station near Rugby^[10].

• Re-opening the Oxford to Bedford line. This would form part of a future Varsity Line^[8].

• Re open Gerrards Cross to Uxbridge line continuing the route to Heathrow Airport. This would give Birmingham a direct rail link with the largest airport in the United Kingdom.

• Accepting Oyster Pay-as-you-go at its non-tube Greater London stations (Northolt Park, Sudbury and Harrow Road, Sudbury Hill Harrow and Wembley Stadium) as well as planning to extend it to High Wycombe and Aylesbury.^[11]

• If the Croxley Rail link gets the go ahead from TfL and Hertfordshire County Council, direct services into Watford junction from Aylesbury will be likely, as it will link the Chilterns to the important commercial centre at Watford and the important transport connections at the Junction.

• The High Speed 2 mainline route is under consideration, and preliminary budgets have been made using the M40 / Chiltern Railways route between London and Birmingham. If this goes ahead, a new line will be built between Aynho (just south of Banbury) and the existing High Speed 1 line, joining it between St. Pancras International and Stratford International. A spur to Heathrow Airport has also been proposed. The remainder of the line will be upgraded to French TGV standard and will split from the mainline again to serve Birmingham International Airport and will terminate at Birmingham Moor Street. This would allow passengers from Birmingham and other places (Coventry, Warwick, Banbury, Bicester, Aylesbury, Oxford) a direct train link to High Speed 1, previously known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, with the passenger only having to get off at St. Pancras or Stratford to board a Eurostar train.^[12]

[edit] See also

• Varsity Line

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Chiltern Railways official home page
• Railnews, Report on Gerrard Cross closure^{[dead link]}
• Information on the Gerrards Cross Tunnel^{[dead link]}
• East West Rail Link support group
• East West Rail Link petition