Central frugal? 'Course! (Central Trains)

Member Name: davidbuttery

Product:	Central Trains
Date:	08/07/02 (296 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Reasonable fares, Wide network, many staffed stations

Disadvantages: Many poor trains, Class 323 windows, Birmingham New Street...

We all love to whinge about Britain's railway system, and I'm certainly no exception to that. Anyone who has travelled on our trains as widely and frequently as I have will be well acquainted with the daily litany of excuses employed by the nation's disastrously fragmented rail network - late arrival of the incoming train (that's not a reason - why was said train late in the first place?), waiting for a staff member to arrive (try employing sufficient cover), signal failure (why are they so unreliable?), vandalism (throwing a half-brick at a driver's window should be prosecuted as attempted murder as far as I'm concerned)... you get the idea. Actually, though, things are a little more complicated than that, and the example of Central Trains, my local Train Operating Company (TOC), illustrates this point very well.

Central's franchise covers a very wide area indeed, stretching from Cardiff and Liverpool in the west to Cleethorpes and Stansted Airport in the east - indeed, until recently it was even larger, having responsibility for the Aberystwyth services now operated under the new Wales & Borders franchise. Central's operations can be split into two general areas - the long-distance cross-country lines (eg Liverpool to Norwich and Birmingham) and the dense network of urban commuter routes that radiate like spokes from a central Birmingham hub - though some lines do fall into both categories, gradually changing character along their way.

The cross-country lines are a mixed bunch. The one I've used most is the Liverpool - Birmingham line, which is generally representative, and the service here has changed quite a bit over the years. Back in the early 1990s, we were still in the era of 30-year-old slam-door electric units which, though undeniably shabby, benefited from properly sprung seats (sorry, but plasticky "airline" seats are not anything like as comfortable), windows that could be opened by the pas
senger (I don't *want* artificial air; I want the real thing) and the dying embers of the flame of public service, as evidenced by the care taken over the wooden trim. In the first years after privatisation, Central tended to rely on its then-new Class 323 electric units, which look very smart from outside, and are fine for a 15-minute hop, but are horribly spartan for the two-hour journey between the two cities. Now, we've seemingly gone back in time by reverting to diesels - the new Class 170s, which suffered terribly from unreliable engines in their early days. They're now far better, and actually quite relaxing, although the obsession with the twin evils of air conditioning and plastic fittings still pertains.

The type of line that interests me most - as it's the type I use regularly to get to work - is the medium-distance, "semi-commuter" line, such as my local route which runs Hereford - Worcester - Kidderminster - Stourbridge - Birmingham. It's a long way between the two termini - the journey takes as long as the Liverpool trip mentioned above - and yet the workhorse of the line, the Class 150 diesel unit, is by no means a luxurious cross-country express. Actually, it's a constant wonder that they work at all - they're old, cramped, very noisy, rather smelly and often littered with - well, with litter. Only one toilet on a two- or three-carriage train, and that often without running water, doesn't help the ambience much either. At off-peak times - when, perversely, the trains often run with four carriages - they're bearable, and at least you can open the windows, but the 19:01 from New Street on a Friday evening would be condemned by David Blunkett as unnecessarily harsh punishment for serial offenders. (Maybe I shouldn't moan - once that train was *one* carriage long, and the crush inside was truly frightening....)

My local station is Kidderminster, operated by Central Trains themselves, and
from the point of view of rail travel that has both good and bad points. On the positive side, it's a large enough town, with enough commuters into Birmingham, that the frequency of the service is pretty high; and the station staff are some of the best and most helpful I've encountered anywhere. Unfortunately, the ticket office closes ridiculously early (7pm on weekdays - it was once 11pm), which means that the place can be quite intimidating when groups of young people gather there on a warm summer evening. It's also outside the all-important Centro supported area, which means that I can't take advantage of the season passes, day tickets and the like that the Passenger Transport Executive provide.

Kidderminster is really the pivotal point on the Birmingham - Hereford line: to the east, even small stations are well served by frequent local trains throughout the day, but in the more rural areas to the west even sizeable cities suffer badly in their provision of services: for example, the last train back to Hereford from Birmingham in the week leaves New Street just after 7pm. The situation is even worse for the small Hartlebury station - had it the fortune to be situated on the Birmingham side of Kidderminster, it would probably have quite a good service: as it is, trains make precisely *one* stop outside the main rush hours, and that only in one direction. Is providing a train every two hours or so really that onerous a task?

The extremely busy city services that provide the bulk of Central's provision are actually not too bad. From Birmingham, you can expect very frequent and reasonably fast services to Wolverhampton, Coventry, Walsall, Sutton Coldfield and the like, mostly operated by the Class 323 electrics mentioned above, which are far more in their element here than on the long hauls. Unfortunately, some genius decided to save money by scrimping on vandal-proof glass for the windows, and the result is a crazed mass of scr
awls, patterns and that modern abomination, the "tag". It doesn't really hinder vision, but it looks awful and makes the whole enterprise feel squalid. Why not borrow an idea from the US - peel-off transparent window covers?

Innovation is not all that apparent in this part of the network, though there have been two important developments in the last few years. Firstly, there is now - at last! - a hourly service linking Wolverhampton and Walsall. It's not very well advertised, and feels a bit of a shoestring operation, but at least it's there. The other improvement has been the extension of the Birmingham - Hednesford branch through to Rugeley Trent Valley, opening up a second through route to Stafford (and thence the major cities of the North West).

Birmingham New Street station, though actually run by Railtrack (delete if applicable!), is vital to Central's services, so it's worth a quick mention here. Anyone who has been to London's Euston will recognise the setup immediately - a vast expanse of hard floor with no seating, timetable screens (I do miss the old "clackety-clack" departure board) moved to stupid places so as not to get in the way of advertising billboards, a very large booking counter with - at most - three windows open (two in rush hours), and, almost worst of all, that disembodied auto-announcer that reminds one so much of a cheap science-fiction film about a totalitarian state. Until very recently, all the announcements were made by humans, but the "modernisers" thought a computer-controlled Tannoy would be better and clearer, and most of all more accurate. It isn't.

Mind you, timetables - electronic or paper - are always to be taken with a couple of oceans' worth of salt, and Central do not have the greatest record on punctuality. They may not be able to touch the sublime heights of Virgin's regular nine-hour delays (another one just the other day, I see),
and their appearances in the Evening Mail are generally confined to missives from Disgusted of Acocks Green, but it's probably not a good idea to plan any three-minute connections. Back in the days of Franco's Spain, passengers would stand and applaud if a train arrived on time - so much for fascist dictators, eh? - and I do wonder how long it will be before the same happens in Birmingham.

One huge advantage of areas under the supervision of Passenger Transport Executives is the staffing of virtually all stations, even those (such as Stourbridge Town, at the end of Britain's shortest branch line, just three-quarters of a mile) that are little more than a brick hut at the end of a single platform. This not only helps with discouraging ticket dodging (more on this in a minute), but allows sensible communication with a human being about travel plans, the chance to get truthful (as opposed to official) information on late running trains, and - most of all - a certain sense of personal security. The powers that be seem to be transfixed by the charms of CCTV, and everywhere you go there are soothing posters extolling its virtues, but it's a fat lot of good the police knowing who's kicked my head in if I bleed to death on the platform because there's no-one actually on the scene.

Now then: ticket-dodging. I know a lot of people consider this to be an "acceptable" offence, rather like parking on a double yellow line because they can't bear to wait ten minutes for their fags and booze. But I'm certainly not one of them, and neither I suspect is anyone who's actually done a bit of research into the figures: even a brief clampdown at New Street only in October last year raised almost £200,000. Considering how desperately short of money the railways are (as opposed to the fat-cat bosses - just today I see that the boss of Jarvis is pocketing £600,000 a year), it's really little better than stealing from your l
ocal corner shop. The number of "revenue protection staff" in the West Midlands has recently been significantly increased, and permanent barriers have gone up at New Street for the first time in years, and not before time in my opinion. Don't come crying to me if you get caught without a ticket: you deserve everything you get.

Enough moralising. As we're on the subject of tickets, though, it might be a good idea to look at how to get the best value for money on Central Trains. One immediate piece of good news is that, as Central do not operate what used to be known as "InterCity" trains, with sizeable First Class sections (Central are entirely a one-class operation these days) and a largely business clientele, their walk-on prices are vastly more reasonable than the likes of Virgin (not hard, admittedly). That's because, while "Business brains have expense accounts", a great percentage of Central's passengers are travelling for leisure, often for short distances. So fares, while too high (as they are everywhere), are at least affordable, and cheaper tickets are not weighed down by restrictions. (As a guide, a Kidderminster to Birmingham cheap day return is £4.10 - less than the bus!) If you're travelling within the Centro area, there are some useful day rover tickets too, of which probably the most useful is the Daytripper, which will set you back £4.00 and allows travel on all trains, trams and buses after 9:30am. (See my "Transport in Birmingham" op for more detail on rover tickets, including those not aimed at train travellers.)

Overall, Central Trains can be considered an average company, providing average levels of service in an averagely efficient way. There isn't really anything about the system that provokes either gasps of admiration or howls of despair. It's not a company most people have particular feelings for in any direction, except for the short-lived thoughts of mur
derous rage when it is announced that the 17:43 to Great Malvern will now depart from a platform four flights of steps away in two minutes' time. In short, it's a part of the local landscape, something no more a part of conscious thought than how to breathe. I suppose that's really something of an achievement.

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All right then: to reward those of you who actually read long ops like this properly, here's a little tip that can save you a lot of money on Central's trains (and on many others) - if you're off on a long journey, then it pays to do a little bit of homework. Yes, the rules for ticket staff say that they have to sell you the cheapest ticket appropriate for your journey, and in general so they do... but that's not the whole story. Their computers give you the best *individual* ticket - on many occasions you can save by splitting up your journey. Imagine you want to travel (off-peak) from Kidderminster to Swansea for the day, a long but by no means impossible jaunt. If you roll up at Kiddy station and ask for a day return, you'll get a Supersaver for £32.70, and the timetable will show you that you need to change at Cardiff Central both ways.

BUT... you can do better than this. As you're going to have to change at Cardiff anyway, why not take advantage of the system to save a significant amount of cash? What you do is this: at Kidderminster, ask for a Cheap Day Return from there to Cardiff, *and* for one from Cardiff to Swansea. The cost of both tickets works out at £27.30, a saving of over 16%! It's all entirely above board, and you'll have a fiver (plus change) to spend on something for yourself (or about half a cup of onboard coffee...), but you won't get it unless you ask for it directly and get the details exactly right. I find qjump.co.uk the best place to do my research for this, as it's much faster than Virgin's rather poor thetrainline.com. Better stop now, as I
9;ve written one and a half ops already! :-)

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