Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways operates two routes from London’s Marylebone terminus, both of which carve through the Chilterns – hence the company’s name.
Services & routes
On the first route, trains depart every 30 minutes for Birmingham (both Moor Street and Snow Hill stations) via Banbury, Leamington Spa, Warwick and Solihull; some of these continue in peak hours to Stourbridge and Kidderminster. Local services to Beaconsfield, High Wycombe and Princes Risborough also run along this route.
The second route runs every 30 minutes to Aylesbury via Chorleywood, Rickmansworth and Amersham. A shuttle service also links Aylesbury with Princes Risborough.
The longer distance services to Birmingham include a trolley service serving snacks and hot and cold drinks for at least some of the journey.
Chiltern Railways is unusual in being the only train operator serving London to not offer First Class accommodation aboard its trains – all its services are Standard Class only.
With the longest rail franchise (running until 2022) Chiltern Railways has been able to invest heavily in services, stations and infrastructure. It has opened a new station at Warwick Parkway, and has recently upgraded the Chiltern Mainline to reduce journey times between London Marylebone and Birmingham to 92 minutes from May 2011 (compared with 82 minutes with Avanti West Coast on present schedules). Chiltern Railways is also building a new line to Oxford, due to open in 2013.