The wi-fi service on board Chiltern Railways trains

Chiltern Railways offer 'Free' wi-fi to all passengers on most of their long distance trains. Some might argue that it's included in the price of the train ticket so isn't free of charge, but in my mind it's an extra service that you don't pay extra for, so I consider it free.

The wi-fi service is usually available on all Class 168 'Clubman' style trains and on the fancy 'Silver' trains that have electrically operated doors. If your train has tables, it should have wi-fi, unless you happen to catch the old 'blue & grey' train (with slam doors) that does one trip from Banbury to Marylebone each weekday morning, with one return trip in the evening.

The service is obtained by registering for the service the first time you log on, and then by using your email address on subsequent visits.

The wi-fi doesn't always work for everyone, usually for technical reasons.

You should also be aware that the wi-fi system on board the trains uses the mobile phone network. This means that there is not an unlimited amount of bandwidth (usage is slowed down after 20mb of data) and if the train is passing through a mobile-data Bermuda Triangle, then the data connection will drop off.

The service is provided by a company called icomera, which is based in Göteborg in Sweden. They have staff in the UK, but the company's customer Help Desk is located in Scandinavia. They are a jolly helpful and friendly bunch of people.

What support options are available when the wi-fi doesn't work for you?

Telephone: A geographical London based Help Line number was announced in September 2014. It is  020 8028 0375. [Edit Sep 2014]

 
Email: Provided you have 3G access (presumably the on-board wi-fi is not working), you can email chiltern.support@icomera.com You should include basic information about the nature of the problem and what train you are on. It is really helpful if you can include the carriage number you are in - this isn't always obvious, but is usually above the door to the drivers cab if you are in one of the the end carriages of a Clubman 168 train.

Sending an email will automatically generate a service ticket, with an auto response email. My experience is that these tickets do usually take a few minutes to feed through the system before they come to the attention of an icomera Help Desk agent.

Internet: There is also a support website - Once you have logged an email ticket, you can respond and log further tickets via the support system. I like this because I have a record although, as with the emails, it can take a short while before your problem is picked up.

The web site also offers a Live Chat facility - of course you will need your own means of accessing the internet to use this. Also, if you lose your signal, the conversation may break off. With Live Chat, you can have the system email you a copy of your conversation.

The icomera Help Desk service is supposed to be available from 0600 to 2200 every day. Occasionally response times are not immediate, but please remember that the agent(s) on duty are likely to be multi-tasking. Very occasionally response times suggest that no one is there - When that happens, I tend to get grumpy.

Support is not currently available from icomera via Twitter although the lovely Chiltern Tweeters will occasionally log a fault - I find it much more efficient to do it myself.

Newquay Airport - Some good news

Newquay airport in Cornwall appears to have been struggling a little recently.

I've just had an email from FlyBe to say that they are flying three times a week, this Summer (2014) between Southend and Newquay.

The route will be operating between 16th May and 27th September. It will be possible to book flights from tomorrow.

I hope the new route works well for FlyBe and both airports. Cornwall is a beautiful county and the beaches are amazing.

This is not a plug-a-torial. I have had many a happy family holiday in the far South a West of the UK - If you haven't' tried it, why not give it a go.

** Other travel options to Cornwall are available.

Saracens - Quote of the day

Alex Goode

On his stunning second-half try he added;

“It was like an Under 12s try – I’ve never scored one like that before! I got the ball, and I had a lot of time to swing my hips, throw about fifteen dummies and annoy Ashy as I didn’t give him the ball, to score."

Full article.

All is calm, all is bright

Actually, it's not that bright, but all is calm.

After last night's storm, Chiltern Railways have managed to run most trains, albeit with some quite long delays. 

My train of choice this morning was cancelled - where I live we are often the first to be sacrificed. However I am now sat at the back of the six carriage loco-hauled Chiltern Blue & Grey set. Yes, we are running late, but there are only seven people sat in the carriage, so it is rather soporific. 

Mind you, there is one grumpy old man who ranted that 'They've had all year to check the lines'. Eh? Some people!

South West Trains are running no trains before 10.00 am and other Train Operating Companies are operating very limited services due to various safety / infrastructure issues. 

By contrast, Chiltern started to time and have tried to run the best service that they can. 

Commercially (unlike other TOCs), Chiltern Railways are enforcing ticket restrictions today. Given the paucity of passengers and the worry caused by the Christmas Eve weather, this decision appears Scrooge like, and hopefully will be reviewed as the big chiefs get to work. 

I'll be on a de-restricted Advance ticket this afternoon, on an East Coast train. 

Anyhow, to my reader wherever you are, have a very Happy Christmas!

The view from Canary Wharf this morning

London City airport had a few problems with fog this morning.

This picture was taken from Canary Wharf by a colleague - Usually the runway at the airport is visible. Not today!

A Tough Gig

It's sometimes a tough gig, but I'll take this one.

See you soon. 

CU

Oh. That's different

Currently sat on a Central Line train that apparently has it's destination as Tottenham Court Road. 

Sonia seems confused.

Chasing the Rainbow

In my experience, it is fairly rare to get sight of a complete rainbow. Even more so to get a complete picture.

Late this afternoon, there was a fantastic complete arch of a rainbow in the Wendover area of Rural Buckinghamshire. 

At the time I was sat on a Chiltern Railways train. The windows were fairly grubby and trees and bushes a plenty, as we bimbled along. This was the best I could do, and not even with a proper camera. 

Darrell Jordan has a much better picture of the same rainbow taken at nearby Little Kimble. 

Dove Holes

A small station in Derbyshire, one stop from the end of the line at Buxton.

Plenty of straight forward walking in the area.

A very pleasant day out.

Home. Pooped. 

Virgin Trains along the Chiltern Line - Sunday 25 August 2013

Engineering works are taking place today that will significantly affect Virgin Trains Operating out of Euston.
This means that for much of the day one train an hour, in each direction, will be diverted via the Chiltern Line.

Virgin Trains
Sunday

• Some trains are diverted to run between London Euston and Birmingham International, Birmingham New Street and Crewe via High Wycombe, Leamington Spa and Coventry
• Trains between London Euston and Birmingham New Street / Wolverhampton and Manchester Piccadilly will run to an amended timetable
• Until 12:00 trains will not run between London Euston and Rugby
• After 12:00 trains will not run between London Euston and Milton Keynes Central

For those interested in such things, I have pasted below a snapshot of the anticipated time for all of the diverted trains to pass through Princes Risborough. Thanks to Tom Cairns and the Realtimetrains website.

If you click this link, you will be taken to the live version of the same data - Click away to your heart's content! The data should be retained for 7 days, after which it probably won't work any more.

As a consequence,Chiltern Railways services on their Mainline Route (Birmingham - Stratford-upon-Avon - Banbury - High Wycombe - London Marylebone) will have minor changes to their timetable. There will also be additional carriages on many trains as the planned closure on West Coast Main Line from Euston will mean additional passengers using their services.

___________________________

Virgin Trains through Princes Risborough

Sunday 25th August 201
(Click image to enlarge)

Edit: The original image has been replaced with one that shows what actually happened at Princes Risborough on Sunday 25th August 2013.

Alan Partridge : Alpha Papa

Clearly I am showing my age - I find it difficult to believe that Steve Coogan's character, Alan Partridge, first came to life over 20 years ago.

Nevertheless, Mr Partridge clearly retains his popularity, evidenced by the cinema having more people sat in it than for most films I have been to see this year. 

The comedy in this film is pure Partridge, with a touch more drama thrown in compared to when the ageing and irreverent DJ last appeared on our small screens. 

The plot is reasonably interesting, the screenplay not overly ambitious and at 90 minutes the length is about right.

I am not convinced as to the overseas appeal of this film, but I do wish it well. It should do well in it's home market - just don't go to see it if you anticipate having the meaning of life explained to you.

Red 2

Having not seen the original, I had no idea what to expect from this film.

Views on Red 2 differ enormously - My view is that it is a reasonably OK action film, with a fine cast and some good acting. 

Watch out for the toe curling action from Dame Helen Mirren and (for me) the best acting performance I've seen this year, by Sir Anthony Hopkins. 

Having been brought up in Cold War Germany, there was much in Red 2 to interest me. It is on occasion geographically testing, but that doesn't matter. The film is after all a fiction, and a good thing too. 

This film is not a waste of time - the movie business is an entertainment business and not everyone is entertained by the same things. Please bear that in mind. I would suggest that you go to see this film - just sit back and be entertained.

A busy time of day and no trains

I am currently rather too frustrated to write a well considered and erudite post.

All I really want to say is that there are today a lot of people who have had a rather bad start to their day, courtesy of Chiltern Railways. 

If you click on the image below, you should be able to see a 67 minute gap in train services to London Marylebone. The information is for Princes Risborough station and was extracted at about 0840.

It is the view of many affected that my local station was ignored by those making operational decisions today.

I certainly hope that as many people as possible from Princess Risborough apply for the refunds to which they are entitled. 

More on Punctuality

I went to bed yesterday evening not long after 11 pm.

Up until I last checked, Chiltern Railways had had 398 passenger trains complete their journeys on Wednesday. Of those, one train had reached its destination more than five minutes late. 

The late train actually arrived at Aylesbury six and a half minutes late, delayed I think by congestion on the Metropolitan Line, caused by a signal failure. 

I didn't wait up till 1.30 am to see the last of the remaining twenty or so trains arrive at their destinations. 

However what I can say is that of the last 830 trains (ie two days worth) run by Chiltern Railways until 11.30 pm last night, just one was officially late. 

In my view, that takes some doing. 

A Good Day's Work

Like all businesses, the UK Train Operating Companies have a number of Key Performance Indicators by which their performance is measured.

One of these KPIs is the Public Performance Measure. The PPM measures the percentage of trains that arrive at their destination within 5 minutes (for London & South East and Regional services) of their planned arrival time, or 10 minutes (for Long Distance services).

Yesterday was a red letter day for Chiltern Railways, the train company that I use day in and day out.

Not only did they record a 100% PPM score for the day, but it was on a day when there was a large event on at Wembley Stadium (a Robbie Williams concert), that did not finish until late in the evening.

I think a pat on the back is deserved!

Well done to all at Chiltern Railways.
 

 [Planned post title "Well, Did You Evah?"]

I wonder how common this is?

Yesterday afternoon, I was heading South on a Chiltern Railways train which had just left Banbury.

After a couple of minutes, the train ground to a halt (in an entirely controlled manner) and we sat there, just North of Kings Sutton.

A quick check of a couple of on-line reference sources showed that, just in front of us was a First Great Western train going from Banbury to Oxford. In front of that was a Cross Country train heading from Manchester to Bournemouth. 

The driver came on the PA and told us that a train in front had broken down and that a rescue locomotive was being sent to assist with moving it. Somewhat erroneously I assumed that the issue was with the FGW train. 

As there was nothing else to do, I let loose on Twitter and discovered something slightly unusual had happened. 

It transpired that the Cross Country Service to Bournemouth (train 1O18, which I had earlier seen pass through Leamington Spa) had actually taken a 'Wrong Route'.

What this means is that the signaller had set the points and signals for the train in the wrong direction. Now, obviously, a train driver cannot actually steer a train but, nevertheless one would hope that the driver would not have knowingly taken the wrong route. 

The reality is that if the train was traveling at say 75 - 100 mph on green signals, the driver would probably not have had time to stop before the incorrectly set signal.

My working assumption is that the Cross Country train diverted off the Oxford Line and, instead started to head towards Bicester North, on the line usually used exclusively by Chiltern Railways passenger trains. I have no idea how far the train got, or what it did to reverse back up the line to resume it's correct journey. 

What I can say is that the incident delayed the Cross Country train by 35 minutes between Banbury and Oxford. It then eventually arrived into Bournemouth 34 minutes late at 1745. From what I can see, the train then set off just 3 minutes later (and 3 minutes late) for a 302 mile trip to Leeds, which it achieved without incident. 

The train I was on eventually arrived into London Marylebone 31 minutes late. 

Given the thousands of train movements that happen throughout the day, over thousands of sets of points, I am amazed that this sort of incident doesn't seem to happen more often. 

I've pasted below the eventual timings of the trains involved / delayed over Aynho Junction, plus a copy of the tweet I received advising of the true cause of the incident. 

Stay happy. Stay safe!

CU

______________

As a footnote, I ought to say that at no time were any men, women, children or animals put in any danger by this incident. The signalling system is designed to ensure that safe gaps are maintained between trains, wherever they may actually be going to. The fact that our train came to a perfectly smooth and controlled stop is evidence of this. 

Railway Children Special

There is a rather unusual railtour happening today down in my neck of the woods. Why unusual? Well it will be a train full of enthusiasts that will travel through Chiltern Railways depots, pass across unusual sets of points and will generally reach areas of track and infrastructure only usually ever seen by insiders.

It is hoped that the event will raise £10,000 - £12,500 for Railway Children with ticket sales, on board raffle and sales etc.

The train is being provided by Chiltern completely free of charge, the trains crews are donating their pay to The Railway Children and Network Rail are not charging for their work in planning and  running  the train etc. The whole day has been facilitated by the Branch Line Society.

Below is full detail of the Working Timetable for this unique, interesting and unusual trip. In Twitterland I occasionally use the hashtag "#traingeek". Well, looking at today's itinerary I think that today's trip possibly takes train enthusiasm to a new level. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I hope that a good day is had by all and that lots of money is raised for charity.

Tickets for this event have been sold in advance. If you don't have a special ticket, please do not attempt to board the train.

For operational reasons the timetable for today has been organised into  six different chunks. Hopefully live tracking will be available via the following links, which may act as a historical record just for a day or two.

The timetable data and Real Time Train data has all been extracted using the Real Time Trains web site.

• 1Z21 (Starts from Maylebone at 1105)
• 1Z65 (Starts from Gerrards Cross Siding at 1320)
• 1Z66 (Starts from Aylesbury at 1500)
• 1Z67 (Starts from Great Missenden at 1710)
• 1Z68 (Starts from Aylesbury at 1733)
• 1Z72 (Starts from Bicester North Turnback Siding at 1952)

 =======================================

Working Timetable Information for the Day

=======================================

1Z21 1105 London Marylebone to Gerrards Cross Siding
Operated by CH
STP schedule UID U50894, identity 1Z21
Runs SuO on 26/05/2013 only
TSC 25217004
Unadvertised Express
	WTT Working		Realtime
Location	Arr	Dep	Dep	Dly
London Marylebone formed from 2H19 from Bicester North		1105	1105	RT
Marylebone Up Tunnel Sdgs	1108	1115
London Marylebone	1118	1125	1121	-4
Neasden South Jn	pass	1133	1129	-4
Wembley Gcj	pass	1135
Wembley Lmd	1137	1227	1220	-7
Wembley Stadium	pass	1229	1223	-6
Wembley Siding	1231	1238	1240	2
Wembley Stadium	pass	1240	1242	2
Neasden South Jn	pass	1242	1243	1
Neasden South Jn Sig Me525	1243	1250
Neasden South Jn	pass	1251	1247	-4
Wembley Stadium	pass	1253	1252	-1
Sudbury & Harrow Road	pass	1254
Sudbury Hill Harrow	pass	1254
Northolt Park	pass	1255
Northolt Park Jn	pass	1257	1256	-1
South Ruislip	pass	1258	1256	-2
West Ruislip	1301	1302	1259	-3
Denham	pass	1305
Denham Golf Club	pass	1306
Gerrards Cross	pass	1309	1306	-3
Gerrards Cross Siding	1311			-3
1Z65 1320 Gerrards Cross Siding to Aylesbury
STP schedule UID U50895, identity 1Z65
Runs SuO on 26/05/2013 only
TSC 25217004
Unadvertised Express
	WTT Working		Realtime
Location	Arr	Dep	Dep	Dly
Gerrards Cross Siding		1320	1320	RT
Gerrards Cross	pass	1322	1322	RT
Denham Golf Club	pass	1323
Denham	pass	1324
West Ruislip	1328	1335	1336	1
Denham	pass	1338
Denham Golf Club	pass	1339
Gerrards Cross	pass	1342	1342	RT
Seer Green	pass	1344
Beaconsfield	pass	1345
High Wycombe	pass	1350	1349	-1
West Wycombe	pass	1352
Saunderton	pass	1355	1353	-2
Princes Risborough	1359	1400	1358	-2
Monks Risborough	pass	1406
Little Kimble	pass	1413	1410	-3
Aylesbury	1421			-2
1Z66 1500 Aylesbury to Great Missenden
STP schedule UID U50898, identity 1Z66
Runs SuO on 26/05/2013 only
TSC 25217004
Unadvertised Express
This train started from Aylesbury due to a decision by the train operating company (TR)
	WTT Working		Realtime
Location	Arr	Dep	Dep	Dly
Aylesbury		1500
Aylesbury D.M.U. Depot	1505	1537
Aylesbury	1542	1542
Aylesbury (Sdgs 1-7)	1603	1610
Aylesbury	1613	1619
Aylesbury (Sdgs 1-7)	1622	1629
Aylesbury	1632	1633	1626	-7
Aylesbury North Loop	1637	1640	1639	-1
Aylesbury Sig Me302	1642	1649
Aylesbury	1652	1653	1650	-3
Stoke Mandeville	pass	1657	1653	-4
Wendover	pass	1659	1655	-4
Great Missenden	1704			-4
1Z67 1710 Great Missenden to Aylesbury
STP schedule UID U50899, identity 1Z67
Runs SuO on 26/05/2013 only
TSC 25217004
Unadvertised Express
	WTT Working		Realtime
Location	Arr	Dep	Arr	Dep	Dly
Great Missenden		1710		No report
Wendover	pass	1718	pass	1710	-8
Stoke Mandeville	pass	1720	pass	1714	-6
Aylesbury	1723		1716		-7
1Z68 1733 Aylesbury to Bicester North Turnback Sg
STP schedule UID U50896, identity 1Z68
Runs SuO on 26/05/2013 only
TSC 25217004
Unadvertised Express
	WTT Working		Realtime
Location	Arr	Dep	Arr	Dep	Dly
Aylesbury		1733		1734	1
Little Kimble	pass	1742	pass	1742	RT
Monks Risborough	pass	1745	No report
Princes Risborough	pass	1748	pass	1747	-1
Saunderton	pass	1752	pass	1751	-1
West Wycombe	pass	1755	No report
High Wycombe	1759	1805	1758	1801	-4
West Wycombe	pass	1808	No report
Saunderton	pass	1811	pass	1806	-5
Princes Risborough	1815	1816	1809	1812	-4
Princes R'boro Ace	1818	1841	1814	1847	6
Princes Risborough	1843	1848	N/R	1847	-1
Princes Risborough Me666	1850	1855	No report
Princes Risborough	1857	1909	1852	1906	-3
Haddenham & Thame Parkway	pass	1915	pass	1910	-5
Blackthorne	pass	1923	No report
Bicester North	1927	1927	1923	1923	-4
Bicester Signal Me2034	1929	1934	No report
Bicester North	1936	1941	1928	N/R	-8
Bicester North Turnback Sg	1943		1932		-11
1Z72 1952 Bicester North Turnback Sg to London Marylebone
STP schedule UID U50897, identity 1Z72
Runs SuO on 26/05/2013 only
TSC 25217004
Unadvertised Express
	WTT Working		Realtime
Location	Arr	Dep	Arr	Dep	Dly
Bicester North Turnback Sg		1952		1952	RT
Bicester North	1954	1955	1954	1956	1
Blackthorne	pass	1958	No report
Haddenham & Thame Parkway	2007	2008	2006	2008	RT
Princes Risborough	pass	2014	pass	2013	-1
Saunderton	pass	2017	pass	2015	-2
West Wycombe	pass	2019	No report
High Wycombe	2022	2023	2019	2021	-2
Beaconsfield	2029	2030	2027	2028	-2
Seer Green	pass	2032	No report
Gerrards Cross	2036	2037	2034	2035	-2
Denham Golf Club	pass	2039	No report
Denham	pass	2039	No report
West Ruislip	pass	2042	pass	2039	-3
South Ruislip	pass	2044	pass	2040	-4
Northolt Park Jn	pass	2044	No report
Northolt Park	pass	2045	No report
Sudbury Hill Harrow	pass	2046	No report
Sudbury & Harrow Road	pass	2047	No report
Wembley Stadium	pass	2049	pass	2044	-5
Neasden South Jn	pass	2051	pass	2045	-6
London Marylebone	2059		2052		-7

Edit: While the formating is particularly rubbish, I have now (22:50) edited the WTT above to show what actually happened during the day. All data is drawn from an automated system, hence why some places have no data.

Edgware Road (Bakerloo Line) Station Closed until Late December 2013

To allow the rather antiquated lifts to be replaced, the Bakerloo Line's Edgware Road station is closed from today until late December (2013).

Passengers will be able to use Edgware Road (Circle/Hammersmith & City line) station which is a short walk away (on the other side of the Marylebone Flyover). Using the other station will enable connections with the Bakerloo line at Baker Street and Paddington.

Alternatively, Marylebone Station (which is about seven minutes walk away) is also on the Bakerloo Line.

HS2 Tunnel Recommended under Ealing and Northolt

Back in the Summer of 2010 I wrote about the impact that HS2 would have on the Northolt area of West London. In particular, there was clearly going to be a huge impact on Northolt's Central Line station.

Well, I've only just noticed that the latest recommendation is that the route be tunnelled from Old Oak Common to Northolt. Given that it has already been decided to tunnel from Northolt Junction through to West Ruslip, this means that HS2 could now have a nine mile (14km) tunnel from Old Oak Common, all the way through to the very edge of London.

I can see why this might be the most cost effective option. It would be interesting to know how deep the tunnels will be. Clearly it's not just country folk who have been getting grumpy.

National Mills Weekend 2013

Lots of people make themselves constantly busy doing interesting things. Many people don't, but deep down they know that it's probably not that difficult.

I often count myself in the second category. 

This weekend is National Mills Weekend. It does what it says on the tin! Go on, do some research and then take a trip out to do something interesting!

My local windmill is Lacey Green Windmill in Buckinghamshire. It is open tomorrow (12th May 2013) from 11am to 5pm. It is defienitely worth a visit if you are in the area. 

My 2011 visit report is at the end of this link (click and scroll down).

Have an enjoyable weekend!
________________________________

Weather on Sunday 12th May 2013

At the time of writing, 8 pm on Saturday 11th May, the weather forecast for Sunday 12th May is not good.  A wind of 14 mph with gusts of 28 mph (Force 6) is forecast from 10 am to 1 pm.  Heavy rain is forecast from 2 pm until 7 pm.  It has therefore been decided, for the safety of the windmill, and those working on it, that we would be unwise to fit the sailcloths.  We may be able to let the wind turn the sails without the sailcloths.