Thanks Dylan for an extremely interesting and very cleverly presented video. Chiltern is widely regarded as one of the best franchised operations. That it is largely thanks to its former CEO, the late Adrian Shooter. He revolutionized the service on the line. Marylebone is WAY busier than it used to be. You mentioned six Platforms. Prior to the Shooter era there were only four. There is a bust to him on Marylebone. It was unveiled in his presence. (He was termninally ill.)

Love the change between the chatter to silence when the train was being announced as delayed!

I live in Birmingham and travel to London fairly regularly. Chiltern every time for me. And the loco hauled MK3s are amazing. Biggest seats on any train I’ve been on. Gorgeous way to travel.

*Dylan, Chiltern have long been my favourite rail company ever since I moved to Brum back in 2003.* They generally have one of the best punctuality and reliability rates, especially compared to Virgin/Avanti, and since the Evergreen 2 and Evergreen 3 rail projects, they managed to cut journey times to 2 hours or less. The Class 168, 170, 171, 172s are a good train set too. Their staff are usually quite helpful too. And I do like the old-time GWR themed stations along certain sections of the route.

The Class 168 is the daddy of the Turbostar family - the Chiltern Class 168 arrived first, followed by the first proper batch of Class 170 Turbostar - the 170/1 for Midland Mainline. They were followed by the Class 170/2 for Anglia Railways. Also the Chiltern Railways Class 168 have been refurbished twice, with the latest refurbishment into the Silver Train around 2013/14. Best wishes and take care. Kind regards, Peter Skuce. St Albans. Hertfordshire.

@mjpm2409

11 ай бұрын

They're all filthy these days.

The Chiltern Mk 3 loco hauled sets are really good despite their age. You ought to do a review of those.

@maidenhead7760

11 ай бұрын

I’m pretty sure he did those

Back in "the day" Marylebone was the terminus of The Great Centrals London extension with express trains to Nottingham Victoria and onwards via Woodhead to Manchester.

I'm glad you chose to upload this! How transparent was the process - did the Avanti people all know to accept your ticket, or did you need to get it endorsed or something?

@tonywilkins6090

11 ай бұрын

Avanti staff (and any other TOC) would have been told by their control centre so no need for endorsement + plus railway staff will have access to their internal website that informs them of any issues such as delays,disruption and ticket acceptance.

It's good how Chiltern handled this - I've seen operators such as East Midlands Railway where the customer has to figure things out for themselves, or in worst case, are completely stranded at their origin station (or an intermediate station) and are unable to complete their journey without some sort of taxi ride, or a different form of transport. 10/10 for Chiltern here (and it's good that, at London, you can just find another operator to take you to where you need to go).

@tonywilkins6090

11 ай бұрын

With EMR, I think the issue is lack of communication between their control and guards. I use this site called iris tiger, which is basically the site that the station PIS uses to display information about services. The train that I was on was was reported to be terminated at Nottingham on iris tiger as well as trainline+Network rail enquiries, yet the guard was announcing it was still running. When I caught the guard, I let them know, and they said control hasn't called them so as far as they are aware its running beyond Nottingham. Guard got the call from Control as they was approaching Nottingham as they announced the termination of the service as we pulled into Nottingham. Though personally I think LNER and Avanti are just as bad. If the ECML or WCML closes, they announce ticket acceptance with EMR, the problem is both operators run 9+ car services with a higher seating capacity than EMR's 5 car services. Anyone else would think hang on, EMR services will be rammed. And from past experiences, we had to leave customers at every station from London to Sheffield. Surely it would make sense to do rail replacement to a station on their line than expect an operator with smaller trains to pick up the slack.

@paulhuggins5901

11 ай бұрын

Many years ago l was on a Chiltern train that was waiting to enter a single line section and required a token. The token was on the train coming towards us. Our driver explained very clearly what was happening and why. The passengers accepted this and everyone remained calm.

I'm glad you published this. How these travel glitches are handled is very informative. As an infrequent traveler who can count on two hands how many times I've ridden a train it is good to see the problems that can occur outside of train travel also.

Same thing happened to me early this year. There was a small down the line fire just outside station. So I had to leg it to Euston. But the last time I went on Chilton I traveled from Birmingham to London on a Friday & returned on Sunday & paid £8 for it. Sadly look like it gone up to £25 to £40 for the same journey (likely summer prices).

@Lee_303

11 ай бұрын

It's about that now for Northampton to Euston. Absolutely disgraceful. With London Midland you would regularly get weekend advances for £7.50 (£15 return), mostly because the depot is there & they'd start & finish the day with 12 coach trains. Now it's a different company they don't do 12 coaches, it's 8 but often 4, severe overcrowding & they make you pay more for it. LNWR / WMR are horribly selfish but that's expected as they're 'chums' with the tories so they keep getting rewarded for failure. Same company as Thameslink / Southern / Great Northern / Gatwick Express that want to charge people more for using the latter. And get this: Southern don't run trains to Brighton anymore! Despite being in the Southern Region. Why do we put up with this behaviour?

I remember years ago when the route was blocked by engineering works, Chiltern put out some extremely cheap fares, as low as £1. This was a very sensible move for people being inconvenienced by buses.

The 168s also operate the London Marylebone to Oxford via High Wycombe/ Bicester services along with the 165s

Nice work Chiltern. Sometimes it's the response when things go wrong that counts rather than the normal day to day. Also make good sense to switch straight to Euston as I doubt moving a freight train was going to be a quick job.

So much for the review of Chiltern's service.

@ChilternTransportProductions

11 ай бұрын

In a way, it is part of their service seeing how they handle disruption like this. And they handled it brilliantly, no one left in the dark about what’s going on

Good video.

I would recommend you give Chiltern another go at some point (hopefully with no delays) As from my many experiences with their fleet (165s, 168s, and Silver Sets) They have great and usually quick and on time services, If you were gonna review I recommend you do it soon as Chiltern railways are planning to get some new fleet in the next coming few years.

As the proverb states; "The best laid plans of men and mice...." I'm glad you showed the journey even though it wasn't the originally intended one. I had a journey with Chiltern from Marylebone to Oxford via Bicester on a Class 168 that was rather crowded and the most memorable feature of that journey was the willingness of a delightful young lady to offer me her facing direction of travel window seat as soon as she realised I was an Aussie Tourist out to view the 'green and pleasant fields' enroute. Loved your coverage of Marylebone station as mine was quite brief as I was running close to departure time on entry and not able to fully appreciate the environs. Chiltern did a wonderful job in your situation and I would have to say I had a great experience with them for the journey I undertook. Avanti West Coast obviously did not encounter your criticism on this occasion. I was moved when I saw the Class 350 at Coventry supporting the good folk of Ukraine. Let's hope the madness in that part of the world ceases soon. Cheers from me!🙂🙂🙂

As a user of Chiltern I have experience of "broken down train at High Wycombe". My home station. Even though most of the route is just two tracks, Chiltern have a way of managing these problems. Seems to involve cancelling some of the slower trains and diverting the trains to use the available single track. If the line is completely blocked, some trains can be routed via Aylesbury, reversing back to Princes Risborough, then continue northwards. Where connecting trains are not available taxis are used. Delays are inevitable. At least they have contingency plans.

@ChilternTransportProductions

11 ай бұрын

Even when there is strike action, they bother to put replacement buses on as they have done this weekend and will again this weekend between Aylesbury Vale Parkway and Beaconsfield via Amersham. They don’t always extend it beyond Amersham, they didn’t in May but this time they thought to include that connecting spur! There are still trains from Aylesbury even then running via Wycombe, which is nice. I’m not sure if most operators would put in that much effort

this was really good to watch

I love ChilternRail specially I can just jump on train from my home town off Stourbridge I can be in London just under 2.5hrs . Love your videos keep the good work

Thanks Dylan very enjoyable video 👍

Glad you uploaded this, Dylan. Thats a real bargain for an Avanti service! The only time i have been to Marylebone is to get a train to Wembley, i find its better to go that way than on the tube.

Sums up English trains in a Nutshell. Great video as per usual!

Great trip. That station definitely underrated, and yeah the company is having great response in terms of their trip is going cancelled due to external factors.

I've only travelled with Chiltern a few times (mostly between Birmingham and London), but in my experience they've always been one of the better operators - I'd take a Clubman over an LNR 350/2 any day!

@OllieMJT27

11 ай бұрын

i've never been on a 350 whats the hate on 350/2's

@TakoDeer

11 ай бұрын

@@OllieMJT27 3 by 2 seating as well less comfortable seats overall compared to other subclasses

@Lee_303

11 ай бұрын

​@@TakoDeer 350/2's are perfect for stopping services south of MK. But they have no way of separating them out just for commuter traffic, so they're being replaced. Really what this company should be doing is having WMR (orange & purple trains) running ONLY local trains in the Midlands & have LNWR running fast through the Midlands (but also, local services south of Northampton). This route has always had a bit of an identity crisis! I mean if someone could redraw the franchises, I'd go further & give WCML south stopping services to Chiltern, & they could have the 350/2!

I always like the journey out of Euston, as that is the line that takes me home, to North Wales. Even when I lived near Reading.

“If talking to people is your thing.. ticket staff counters are to the right” Read the room Dylan.

Great trip report Dylan

@spottymaxy1628

11 ай бұрын

You say before actually finishing the video

another great video

I Believe in the past The Chiltern Line ,when it was GW pre WCML electrification, ,was the faster if the two routes from London It's certainly the best for scenery 😊

I hope you will cover this journey on Chiltern and I hadn’t appreciated there was this alternative London to Birmingham connection and cheaper too!

If I can help it, I always go into Marylebone when I go into London, it's always so much less chaotic and the eaterys are the main attraction 😂😂

Dylan, next month the London tube will be my travel life line. I'll be using the District (Victoria line) line and the Circle line for Kings Kross. lol

At the time the London Monopoly board was designed, Marylebone, King's Cross, Liverpool Street and Fenchurch Street were all LNER stations. I suspect that they may have bribed (sorry, spinsored) the publishers of the game for the publicity.

Marylebone never gets attention thiugh, you are right

This is why i'm so happy there's multiple companies between Birmingham and London, I went to London in Early June, took an LNWR Class 350, but there was disruption and came oh so close to catching a Chiltern Train down from Moor Street to Marylebone, thing is though can't complain if there is a broken down Train not belonging to the company you're travelling on, great trip report btw, Avanti Pendolino's look so cool to ride, but I'm not sure if I could stand a Chiltern 168 Lol

I’m so sorry that You had to take the Train from Euston. I know that you were looking forward to Go on a ride on that Train from Marylebone.

You look like you’re on a mission to bump into as many pedestrians as possible 🤷🏻‍♂️

Baker St is closer to Marylebone than Edgware Rd - about 300 yds or so. And would have been easier to get to Euston Square tube for Euston mainline too - just two stops and no changing. Great video as ever though Dylan.

Excellent they implemented ticket acceptance so fast. Most don’t. Northern and TPE for example take hours to do so.

I’ve been on Chiltern Railways couple times including to Oxford, Oxford Parkway, Bicester, Banbury, Birmingham Snow Hill and Warwick. And their trains are still the best.

When the Master Cutler from Sheffield was in its prime it used to run into Marylebone. There is a famous incident where due to a signalling issue it was instead sent round the curve to Watford Met rather than continuing to London. Whoops. Living close to Manchester it’s often expensive on Cross Country to reach Birmingham in order to take advantage of the service which I have been on a few times in the past.

"Northern and Southern clientele", *pans to a Greggs and Pret* 💀, much prefer Greggs all things considered tbf

@Dylan's Travel Reports that's really good from Chiltern Railways NS can learn from that. BTW where you going to the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 because the video was recorded in May, you where going to and at 13:09 in Coventry a LNWR Class 350 in Eurovision 2023 advertisement

Nice video! Wow, you took the tube in order to get from Marylebone to Euston? A bus would have been much easier! ( just a 15 mins ride... probably less )

Sometimes disruptions can make the trip more interesting.

I spy with my little eye... A SWR class 701 at 12:14!

Three small points about Marylebone. I was intrigued by the route you took to get to Marylebone. I am originally from the London area. I would not have thought of going to Edgware Road and walking from there. Nor would I have gone on to Euston via Oxford Circus! I would have changed at Baker Street and walked from Euston Square! Regarding the British Monopoly board, the four station Kings Cross, Liverpool Street, Fenchurch Street and Marylebone were the four station which between 1923 and 1948 were OWNED by the OLD London and North Eastern Railway. Coincidence or deliberate? (NB. Fenchurch Street was mainly used by LMS trains, but the LMS neither owned nor leased the station.)

@mouselovinlady

11 ай бұрын

You can see Baker Street station from the Marylebone entrance!

@Fan652w

11 ай бұрын

@@dwayner901 The walk from the District Line at Edgware Road took only eight minutes. Walking to the Bakerloo, going down to the trains, waiting for the train, going up again at Marylebone would involve just as much walking and probably taken longer than eight minutes. Hopping on a number 18 bus would only make sense if a 'real time' display at the relevant stop showed a bus due in 3 minutes or less.

@Fan652w

11 ай бұрын

@@dwayner901 Thanks. I did suspect that (nowadays) the 18 has a very frequent service. But in any major city (worldwide and even in super efficient Switzerland) 10+ minute gaps often happen on theoretically very frequent routes. That is why I said I would only take an 18 bus if the real time information showed 3 mins or less!

Marleybone is like a trip back in time

Great video,can you do a review on Greater Anglias Class 720s as I believe you haven't yet!🙂

Living in High Wycombe I feel we have been spoiled having Chiltern as our railway. The 165's are now older than the class 115 DMU's were when the 165's replaced them but the current trains seem to have to have weathered well. Please do try to do the 168 review again at sometime, the train breakdown as you said wasn't Chiltern's fault.

Boa tarde Dylan lindo trem boa viagem

It will be Great to see chiltern railway trains on the East west rail route once it’s built!

@ChilternTransportProductions

11 ай бұрын

It already happens between Oxford and Bicester Village, and has done since 2015 😉

if my chiltern train was cancelled or delayed i would stick around and listen to those glorious diesels #lots of smoke and nice smells

@TheSpotify95

11 ай бұрын

If I had the time to, and wasn't in a hurry, I would have probably waited it out on the Chiltern 168 - but if, like Dylan, I needed to catch a connecting train (or was in a hurry), I would be getting whatever alternative I could and hoping I would get there on time - which in the case of this video, was going to Euston for an Avanti Pendolino.

Whenever I travel to London from the Midlands, I'll always use Chiltern over Avanti or LNWR. Part of me wishes that the merge with Wrexham & Shropshire would have been successful, but I suppose taking the Mk3 sets will have to do (they are very nice).

@Lee_303

11 ай бұрын

LNWR / WMR is the same company as Southern Thameslink Great Northern Gatwick Express etc that tries to con people into thinking they're separate companies with separate fares when they're not. I was bitterly disappointed when this lot took over. Their routes are awful. Gone is the through service via Northampton up the Trent Valley. They also insist at stopping at local stations in the West Mids, but peculiarly, not all of them? And why is it not WMR running local services between Coventry & Wolves? Another kick in the teeth to people of Northampton, is their insistence on running 'fasts' via Weedon when they can only do 110! Honestly I'm sick of these dodgy franchises. Chiltern win hands down.

Anyone else find it weird how they don't allow diesel cars into Central London, but they do allow diesel trains?

@michaeljohnson9421

11 ай бұрын

Diesel cars are allowed into central London - free of charge if their exhaust emissions meet the Euro 6 standard, £12.50 per day if they don't. (It's Euro 4 for petrol cars and Euro 3 for motorbikes). Chiltern's trains were built at the time when Euro 2 was the standard, so their emissions are relatively high. But a 4-car Class 168 train can carry 272 passengers, so if you break it down that way the emissions per individual journey aren't all that high.

@Ju1ian10001

11 ай бұрын

@@michaeljohnson9421 slightly wrong there regarding motorbikes, my brothers Honda CBR 600 is Euro 3, but is not ulez compliant (yet). At the moment he is 100 yards (100 yards, it's horrendous how it's been bordered out) so he can ride it to work and back, but end of August he can't, it's just wrong.

@michaeljohnson9421

11 ай бұрын

TfL's website says bikes have to be Euro 3 compliant - but they specifically say this is for Nitrous Oxide, so maybe there are other rules for other emissions. Although if so you'd think they would mention that. It's possible to get your vehicle tested to prove it meets the standards. I know someone who did this for a 90s Porsche,. Apparently 90s Porsches are clean enough for the ULEZ. Who knew? tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone/motorcycles-mopeds-and-more

@ChilternTransportProductions

11 ай бұрын

@@michaeljohnson9421 Some of the 168s were built when Euro 3 was standard (which was 2002 onwards). The 165s I’m not sure if they’re Euro 1 or 2, I know they were new in 1992 but the very earliest 168s certainly are Euro 2, if that’s the criteria they use on diesel trains (I doubt it)

It is not 2008 that the 168s were refurbished, the first set was done in 2013. The Mainline Silver brand was created as a result of acquiring the MK3 sets off Wrexham & Shropshire, which went into liquidation in 2011

In this video, Chiltern is no chill. No chill. This line should be electrified.

6:05….. 25 to 2 😜😜😜

Those 168s look very similar to the Class 170 Turbostar units that are more common and widespread across various operators.

@tonywilkins6090

11 ай бұрын

Thats because its part of the turbostar family, as mentioned in the video.

donny at 10:18 has a nice CRTZ Tee

Taking the Chiltern Mk.3 loco hauled set next time ??

Bakerloo Line 1972 Tube Stock

That’s the chiltern way! They should take over more lines.

@ChilternTransportProductions

11 ай бұрын

I’m not sure which other lines they can take over but I do know there will be a future service from London to MK via Wycombe, Aylesbury and the new station at Winslow Although I’m not yet sure who will run the East West Rail Line from Oxford to MK and Bedford, it may well end up being Chiltern Railways which would make sense. I can see them managing Winslow station as well

I love your subway trains there more modern than ours.. we always have trouble with them ive been stuck in the tunnel more than once.. once was stuck there for a hour but its how i get around so i have to deal with it .. i dont drive so thats my transportation or the bus i like the subway better ..

I paid £6.20 for a single ticket on the underground because I haven't got an oyster card and my French credit card wasn't accepted at the barriers. Glad I didn't have to change stations like you...

Always dangerous to rely on Avanti for connection (I’m dreading going down again in a couple of weeks).

@tonywilkins6090

11 ай бұрын

Avanti hasn't been too bad compared to the months when they had daily cancellations due to shortage fo drivers. So you shouldnt need to worry.

To be honest, Chiltern Railways have made the service a lot worse. The Oxford service used to be fast now it is a stopping service and the Birmingham Moor Street service has doubled the number of stops as well as reducing it to 1tph. These services ran during COVID so it's a shame that journey times have gone up. It is good that they offered an alternative though on this occasion.

Amazing Trip Report. Glad Chiltern are able to do things quicker then other companys 😂😂. And Avanti West Coast being on time 🤔😂😂 must be a new thing lol

Dylan, when you were in Coventry, what was that train painted in Eurovision colours? Will you see the Merseyrail train painted in the Eurovision colours too? I went to the contest, got tickets to be in the audience (now that was a struggle) so have a keen interest in things like this.

@tonywilkins6090

11 ай бұрын

It's a LNWR class 350, unit 350104.

Did your ticket include the tube to Euston

There are metal fence barriers between platforms 3 and 4, and I can't see a reason other than to annoy passengers.

Avanti West Coast Class 390

More videos like these

Children Railway Class 168

how do you track the train route?

You didn't think of walking 5 min to Baker St and taking the Met or Circle to Euston Square?

Hi

interesting how he took the victoria line. guess i would've changed at regents park and gone to euston square, then walked into the main station. edit: as of how tfl map is laid out

You overtake on highwicome branch Chiltern railway on that side is the best the west cost is better Birmingham? It good when does not stop at metropolitan line shallow underground wood you say?

Marylebone wont be a terminus station beyond 2030, when it becomes a Crossrail gateway.

@ChilternTransportProductions

11 ай бұрын

Oh really? Care to expand on that?

@davidwebb4904

11 ай бұрын

@@ChilternTransportProductions I have seen the proposal. Provisionally called Crossrail 4, but in reality will be Crossrail 2.

I'm a little confused. You said that you were on a District line train, but the colours of its fittings indicated that it was a Circle line train.

@advocadoboff4731

11 ай бұрын

The District, Circle and Hammersmith & City lines all share the same rolling stock (the S7 stock) and thus all have the same yellow colour fittings. Also, despite the metropolitan line being the only line using the S8 stock it also has yellow fittings for some reason!

fyi its quicker taking the bus between stations

@ats10802b

11 ай бұрын

Maybe no ticket acceptance on the bus?

and hopefully delay repay too ;)

357 review when

Why did you go via Oxford Circus? The 205 bus would have been easier and quicker.

Hopefully the Chiltern line will get electrified one day - they might even be able to lease the Pendolinos once they've gone from the West Coast!

what is the collective noun for avanti trains?

@robertwilloughby8050

11 ай бұрын

A poo.

@Danse_Macabre_125

11 ай бұрын

A shitstorm

We’re people really talking when they made an important announcement

@tonywilkins6090

11 ай бұрын

Yeah the general public will talk over important announcements, but staff gets the blame if they dont hear it. You see it all the time on the EMR network, "Please use the front 4 coaches for Long Eaton" and you see people trying to use the doors in coach 5/6/7 even though its not platformed. Then they run to the nearest staff and start giving them abuse as the train pulls out of Long Eaton. Best one I seen is this businessman been on since London, its a double unit service so theres multiple announcements were made at London, a min of 3 announcements to make sure that you were in the front unit to get off at Long Eaton. We pull into Long Eaton, and hes panicking as he cant get off at Long Eaton. If only there was an announcement that could have warned him haha.

why not walk Baker Street to Euston Square

You do know you could have walked 5 minutes to Baker Street then 2 stops to Euston?

I WENT ON IT ONCE !, I PREFER MORE OF THE TURBOSTARS

How did they handle the ticketing, just issuing a new for the other company or calling and telling that their tickets would for once be valid outside of their own company?

@equaltoreality8028

11 ай бұрын

Thanks to Britain pseudo-private railway system (its franchised), Ticketing (as well as most other things) is all controlled by the Office of Road and Rail so when one operator can not work Tickets become valid on others between the the two destinations.

@equaltoreality8028

11 ай бұрын

@@mikemainer4679 It's lesser known infomation. Most people think that the British Rail system is private, it is not, its a government franchise which companies bid for but most of what happens is directly controlled by the Office of Road and Rail.

@tonywilkins6090

11 ай бұрын

All operators would have been aware internally, to allow ticket acceptance.

I have to take chiltern every day from the chilternd

First 🤞

@AnatolyDyatolov

11 ай бұрын

Nobody seemed to ask. Childish moron.

@Keithbarber

11 ай бұрын

🥇🏆your prizes

@Danse_Macabre_125

11 ай бұрын

First Great Western

I'd of walked it to Euston. Probably quicker from marlybone

Happy to take your money but can't run train's on time or not at all

1 hour 16 minutes to Birmingham; why are wasting all that money on HS2 to save another few minutes? Complete madness!

@Zomerset

11 ай бұрын

Good point. Would rather that money was spent making rail travel in the north somewhat adequate, at least.

Hmm, your camera work is a bit intrusive. Have you been threatened yet by irritated passers by or passengers.