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| NEWS Platforms 5 and 6 now open (updated 26.08.08) Following the extensive engineering works over the Late Summer bank holiday, new platforms 5 and 6 are now in use. These new platforms have a waiting room, disabled toilet and covered waiting shelters. Trains will not serve platforms 2 and 4 until further notice. The platform usage at Rugby station is now as follows: * Platform 1 - all down (northbound) trains * Platform 5 - up (southbound) trains via Weedon * Platform 6 - up (southbound) trains via Northampton Although it will be possible to reach either southbound route by changing tracks at Hillmorton Junction, it is expected that the normal usage of platforms 5 and 6 will be as described. Furthermore, platform 6 is only 190 metres long, which is too short for a Virgin Pendolino. Access to platforms 5 and 6 is via the existing station subway from the new station building, then via stairs or lift. There will be no access from the Mill Road end of the station during the next phase of the works. Public access to part of platform 2 will remain for the time being, so passengers can make use of the Pumpkin buffet, Customer Services reception, cycle racks and secure cycle lockers. The parts of platform 2 which are not required for access will be hoarded off, and there will be no access at all to platform 4 until further notice. For a diagram of the revised track layout, see Interim layout - August 2008 Mill Road car park closed for reconstruction (updated 26.08.08) The Mill Road car park (car park no. 3) is now closed for reconstruction.. A new multi-storey car park is being built to replace the existing car park and will have spaces for 739 cars on five levels. The existing car parks Nos. 1 and 2 will remain. The new car park is planned to open in about a year's time. Users of the Mill Road car park are being directed to the former Cattle Market car park off Craven Road. Part of this car park has been given over to Virgin Trains, and car park season tickets will be accepted. Nation Car Parks (NCP), who manage the station car parks on behalf of Virgin, will have a 24 hour presence because there will be no CCTV or ticket machines at the Virgin Trains part of the site. The remainder of the car park will remain under the control of Rugby Borough Council where the same (cheaper) parking charges will apply. Engineering work update (updated 23.08.08) Mondays to Fridays until 22 August See separate news item for alterations to trains as a result of the closure of the flyover at Trent Valley Junction. August bank holiday, including Tuesday 26 August Similar arrangements will apply throughout the late Summer bank holiday weekend, but additionally due to enghineering work at Milton Keynes there will be no train service south of Northampton either, except on Tuesday 26 August. On Saturday, Sunday and Monday only , passengers for London will need to travel by coach to Kettering and then by East Midlands Trains to St Pancras International. On Tuesday passengers for London Euston will be conveyed by bus to Northampton, for a Pendolino shuttle service onward. On all four days there will be a bus service to Coventry for trains to Birmingham and the North. The special Virgin Trains service between London Euston, Coventry and Birmingham International via the Chiltern line will also run on these days. The station itself will be closed throughout the closure period to enable the new subway to be lifted into position, and car park No. 1 in front of the station will also be unavailable. The subway work was originally planned for Easter, but delayed due to high winds. Wednesday 27 August until Sunday 7 September The Trent Valley line will be closed and all services to and from the north routed via the West Midlands. This will involve alterations to the times of nearly all Virgin Trains services which call at Rugby. At present it is planned that peak hour trains to London will leave at 06.04, 06.20, 07.14, 07.28 and 07.45 (please note there will be no 07.04 departure). Return trains in the evening peak are planned to leave Euston at 16.13, 16.51, 17.16, 17.39, 18.15, 18.54 and 19.48. However, Vigrin Trains have issued a press release stating that train times are likely to change at very short notice during this period, and intending passengers should check their train times 24 hours before they intend to travel. Saturday and Sunday, 30 and 31 August There will be no trains between Northampton, Rugby and Coventry throughout these days, and the arrangements shown below will operate. Replacement coach services will operate to Northampton and Coventry. Passengers to and from London will need to travel by coach to Northampton and change there for a Pendolino shuttle service to London Euston. Passengers for Birmingham and the North will need to travel by coach to Coventry and change there for trains beyond. Virgin Trains will run an hourly service between London Euston, Coventry and Birmingham International via the Chiltern line, using 8 or 9 car Voyagers. Saturday 6 September There will be no trains between Northampton, Rugby and Coventry from about 09.30 on this day, and the arrangements shown below will operate. The last departure from Rugby will be the 09.29 to London Euston. After this time, replacement coach services will operate to Northampton and Coventry. Passengers to and from London will need to travel by coach to Northampton and change there for a Pendolino shuttle service to London Euston. Passengers for Birmingham and the North will need to travel by coach to Coventry and change there for trains beyond. Virgin Trains will run an hourly service between London Euston, Coventry and Birmingham International via the Chiltern line, using 8 or 9 car Voyagers. Normal train services will resume on Sunday morning. Full details, including the times of the replacement coach services when operating, will be available on the National Rail journey planner as and when these become available. Pendolino lengthening gets the go ahead at last (posted 09.08.08) The DfT Rail Group has announced that Virgin Rail Porjects has been awarded a "Notice to proceed" with the purchase of 62 Pendolino vehicles, which will enable 31 of the nine car sets to be lenghened to 11 cars. Additionally, four new 11 car trains will be built, bringing the total fleet to 56 trains (there were originally 53, but one train was written off following the Lambrigg derailment last year). The trains will be in service by December 2012, which is after the current Virgin franchise ends. It is therefore possible that the new trains will enter service with another operator, and that is why the project is being managed by Virgin Rail Projects, rather than Virgin Trains itself. Either way, it is good news that much needed additional capacity will be provided, and it is to be hoped that the option to purchase another 42 vehicles to enable the rest of the fleet to be similarly lengthened, will also be taken up. Loco hauled trains to cease in December - or will they? (posted 09.08.08) The class 90 and Mark 3 coaches which normally form the 06.20 Rugby - Euston and 16.51 Euston - Birmingham New Street will cease operation in December when the contract to supply these finishes. The coaches are already earmarked for use elsewhere. In their place, Virgin Trains intend to leaee two five-car class 180 "Adelante" diesel sets. We understand these trains will not have regular booked workings, but will be kept on standby as contingency cover. However, several other operators are hoping to use the Adelantes, which until recently were in service with First Great Western. It is therefore possible that, if more Mark 3 coaches can be found, then these would be used instead and the Adelantes used elsewhere. If Virgin Trains do use the Adelantes, their use would be restricted as only London traincrew would be trained to work them. New catering outlet now open (posted 24.07.08) The new 'Travelines' catering outlet in the new station building opened on 24 July. It carries a limited range of drinks and confectionary, together with a selection of magazines and newspapers. It is a take-away only facility - there is no seating. Despite the limited facilities, it will be welcomed by passengers using platform 1, as they will no longer have to go to the Pumpkin buffet on platforms 2 and 4, only to return through the subway to reach platform 1. Flyover closure brings timetable alterations (updated 25.07.08) The flyover line carrying the Up (southbound) Coventry line across the Trent Valley lines at Trent Valley Junction, north of Rugby, will be taken out of use from 26 July until 25 August. This is in connection with renovation work on the flyover. As a result, all Up (southbound) trains from the Birmingham line will have to use the Down Coventry line and platform 1 at Rugby, in addition to the Down (northbound) trains that already use this section of track. The revised route for these trains is shown in green on the Closure of Trent Valley flyover diagram. Additionally, the Up Slow line (the track through platform 4) will also be out of use during this period. All up (southbound) trains from the Trent Valley line will therefore run via the Up Fast line through platform 2, and platform 4 will be closed. To facilitate this work, it will be necessary to retime some Virgin and London Midland trains which run to and from the Birmingham line. The changes that affect Rugby are summarised as follows (Monday to Friday services only are shown): Birmingham service Trains to Birmingham will depart at 05.43, 06.33, 06.56, 07.17, 07.41, 08.18, 09.18, then at 18 minutes past each hour. In the other direction, trains will run as normal between Birmingham and Coventry, then some services will be retirmed by a few minutes through Rugby. London service The 06.20 from Rugby will be revised to depart at 06.17, and the 07.14 will be retimed to depart at 07.09 (from platform 1). The 16.51 from London Euston will be cancelled, but the 17.10 will leave Euston at 17.02 and call additionally at Rugby at 17.53. For full details of all the changes, see the National Rail journey planner. December 2008 timetable - DfT gives another inch (posted 12.07.08) Virgin Trains have now appplied to the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) for a Track Access Agreement in respect of the proposed December 2008 timetable. Changes from the timetable published by the DfT last September include an 06.45 from Rugby to Glasgow on Mondays to Fridays (which we knew about) and an additional train from Rugby to Euston at 06.53 on Mondays to Fridays. This latter train is a welcome improvement as it should ease the anticipated heavy loadings on the next departure at 07.07. Details of the service which will operate on Saturdays and Sundays have been made available for the first time. For a summary of Virgin Train services at Rugby throughout the week, see December 2008 timetable - proposed services at Rugby. For the full timetables, see December 2008 timetable - Virgin Train's submission to ORR. (see under 'West Coast Trains Ltd'). It should be noted that these details are still subject to change as part of the consultation process for the Track Access Agreement, but represent the current intentions for the December 2008 timetable. Fewer first class seats on Virgin Trains (posted 02.07.08) Virgin Trains are reducing the amount of first class accommodation on their trains during the Summer. From 14 July to 7 September, coach G in each Pendolino train will be declassified and made available to standard class ticket holders. This will apply to all trains throughout the week. Coach G will be restored to first class use from 8 September. Virgin Trains claim that the number of first class passengers travelling at this time of the year is lower than at other times, when the demand is higher. It will be interesting to see how this works, particularly on the Birmingham trains at peak periods! New line commissioned at Milton Keynes (updated 29.06.08) London commuters who take an interest in the journey will have noticed that the new Down Fast (northbound) line and platform at Milton Keynes have now been brought into use. This means that for Down (northbound) Virgin trains that call at Milton Keynes, the platform will be on the other side (i.e. right-hand side in direction of travel). This is the first stage of the redevelopment work at Milton Keynes to provide extra platforms and improved turnback facilities at that station. New seat reservation form (posted 26.06.08) Commuters on Virgin trains who reserve their seats in advance are advised that a new seat reservation form is now in use. On this form it is now only possible to reserve seats for four weeks at a time, instead of five as previously. Copies of the new form are available from Rugby station. RRUG members can download a copy of the form from the Members' section of this website. Additional trains from London on Friday afternoons (updated 20.05.08) Because of heavy loadings on Friday afternoon trains between London, the North West and Scotland, passengers travelling from Euston to Rugby may have difficulty finding seats on these trains. To alleviate this, the 14.10 and 15.10 Virgin trains from Euston to Birmingham are making additional stops to set down at Rugby at 15.03 and 16.03 respectively ON FRIDAYS ONLY. This arrangement is currently planned to continue throughout the period of the existing timetable, i.e. until December 2008. However, on Fridays 1, 8, 15 and 22 August engineering work will mean this will not be possible, and the 14.10 and 15.10 ex Euston will not call at Rugby on these dates. These arrangements are shown on the National Rail journey planner. Major changes to ticket system (posted 28.04.08) The Association of Train Operating Companies has announced changes to the ticketing system. This is intended to simplify the range of fares available and make it easier for passengers to understand. There will be three main types of ticket; 'Advance', 'Off-peak' and 'Anytime'. All tickets will fall into one of these categories. These changes will not, in themselves, result in any changes to ticket prices. For further deatils see Changes to ticket types - description and availability and also the National Rail new fares web page. Passengers intending to buy tickets on-line are advised to use the relevant Train Operating Company websites. Supposedly 'neutral' sites such as The Train Line and Qjump charge a booking fee. New Delay/Repay compensation scheme for London Midland (posted 24.11.07) With the takeover of parts of the former Silverlink and Central Trains franchises by London Midland, a new compensation scheme for delays has been introduced. Under the new 'Delay/Repay' scheme, passengers will receive compensation as follows: * For delays of between 30 and 59 minutes: 50% of the cost of a single ticket or either portion of a return ticket * For delays of between 60 and 119 minutes: 100% of the cost of a single ticket or either portion of a return ticket * For delays of over 120 minutes: 100% of the cost of a return ticket. Season ticket holders will get a proportional refund based on the above and the period of the season ticket. Refunds on season tickets must be claimed on each occasion - there will be no automatic refund when the ticket becomes renewable. For all refunds, a Delay/Repay compensation form. must be completed, and sent to London Midland Customer Services FREEPOST MID17926 Birmingham B2 4QT Compensation up to £40 will normally be paid as National Rail vouchers, which can be redeemed for any type of rail ticket including season tickets. Claimes exceeding £40 will normally be paid by cheque. Please note that these arrangements apply only to journeys on London Midland. Compensation arrangements for travel on Virgin Trains remain unaltered. Fares and miscellaneous changes - January 2008 (posted 04.01.08) A summary of of fares and miscellaneous charges affecting Rugby rail users as at January 2008, together with comparisons of previous years, is now available. Please see Fares and charges - January 2008 Through fares to Europe via Eurostar (updated 15.01.08) Eurostar services now run from London St Pancras International, instead of from Waterloo. St Pancras International is approximately 10 minutes walk from Euston station, eastwards along the Euston Road. It is more easily accessible to passengers travelling from Rugby than the original terminal at Waterloo. However, the minimum check-in time for Eurostar services is 30 minutes, so remember to include this when planning your journey. Because of the improved accessibility to Eurostar services from stations north of London, through bookings from 68 stations in England (including Rugby) to principal destinations in France, Belgium and the Netherlands are available. These tickets can be ordered by phone from the Eurostar Contact Centre, telephone 08705 186 186, or on-line from the Eurostar website, with ticket collection from the station concerned. For further details see the Eurostar website. Using a combination of tickets (revised 17.07.06) Sometimes there will be occasions when you already have a ticket for part of your journey, but wish to travel further than your ticket allows. In these circumstances you can buy another ticket for the additional part of the journey, provided certain conditions are met. If it is a season ticket, you can buy a ticket which is valid for the additional part of the journey. You can travel on any train (provided both tickets are valid) without the train having to stop at the station where you change from one ticket to another. If it is any other type of ticket, you can again buy a ticket which is valid for the additional part of the journey. However, in this case you must travel on a train which calls at the station where you change from one ticket to the other. This applies in both directions if you are making a return journey. If you do not comply with these conditions you will be treated as having no ticket and charged accordingly. For further details see Extract from conditions of carriage which is taken from the latest version of the National Rail Conditions of Carriage, effective from 24 July 2006. YOUR WEBSITE The Rugby Rail Users Group website is the principal means of communication with our members. So far we have used it to inform you of our correspondence with the railway industry, announcement of members’ meetings and minutes of committee meetings. Information on changes to train services is also published when known. More recently some advance information on bank holiday engineering work has also been included. But it is your site! Tell us what you would like to see the website used for. Do you like what we have done so far, and what else would you like to see? Your comments, ideas and suggestions would be most welcome. Please e-mail these to WebMaster@RugbyRailUsersGroup.org. We look forward to hearing from you.
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