It’s a neat advertising slogan, but what exactly do rail companies offer business travellers today? Jane Anderson reports.
Add to that the sheer frustration often caused by current levels of security at airports, and suddenly turning up at London Euston Station, relaxing with a coffee and newspaper or browsing the internet in the Virgin First Class Lounge (which has recently undergone a £175,000 makeover) before jumping on your train, is a much more attractive proposition. And when it comes to taking the Eurostar, the positive experience of London St Pancras has done much to boost that option, too.
Going by car may seem like a good idea, until you take into account high levels of traffic and petrol costs. And, of course, there are also major green issues in play here. It’ll come as no surprise that train travel is by far the greenest way of getting from A to B, especially for domestic business travel.
If you’re considering the best use of time, train travel comes out tops again as in-station and on-train Wi-Fi means you can take your desk with you, something which just isn’t possible when driving, and Wi-Fi in the air is usually expensive, if it’s available at all.
Many travel sites allow business passengers to check journey information before leaving for the station and receive alerts directly to their phone. Booking online can also cut the cost of tickets too – redspottedhanky.com claims that by booking business rail via the web, you can save up to 80% compared to buying at the station on the day.
Stay the night…
Following years of painstaking restoration, the St Pancras Renaissance London Hotel (marriot.co.uk) has now opened on Euston Road. Sir John Betjeman said this Gothic treasure was ‘too beautiful and too romantic to survive’, but survive it has, and now this Victorian masterpiece brings more than a touch of glamour to a night in a hotel before your train departs, not to mention state-of-the-art business facilities. It has direct access to the concourse at St Pancras International and there are nine meeting rooms in the hotel should you wish to take full advantage of your stay there. Nightly rates start from £300.
What train companies offer business travellers
Virgin Trains
virgintrains.co.uk
Operates West Coast Trains from London to Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Manchester, Liverpool, Chester and North Wales, the North West and Scotland. There are First Class Lounges at London Euston, Birmingham International, Birmingham New Street, Coventry, Crewe, Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Piccadilly, Runcorn, Stoke-on-Trent and Wolverhampton.
All trains have an on-board shop, enhanced mobile phone reception and power points for charging mobile phones and laptops. Wi-Fi is available on all trains and is free in first class, charged in standard.
At virgintrains.co.uk here’s also a Best Fare Finder facility that makes it easy for customers to access value fares for 40 of the most popular journeys.
Virgin Trains has announced plans for extra trains on its West Coast routes from London Euston. At the same time, the train firm says it will offer passengers chauffeur-driven cars, revamp its website and move towards e-ticketing. The chauffeur-drive service will be trialled for passengers arriving at Euston from this summer, covering any destination in Central London with transfers costing between £22 and £34.
In the wake of bmi’s decision to axe flights between Glasgow and Heathrow, the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) has found that rail travel is soaring, but domestic air demand is on the way down. Based on a comparison of rail industry figures with data published by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), a long-term change in travel patterns has been identified.
CAA figures show that between 2006 and 2010, passenger journeys by air between Glasgow and London airports fell by 22.4%, while ATOC research confirms a remarkable 85.8% increase in rail passenger journeys between the cities.
‘This is great news for the environment as rail is the green way to go,’ says Katharine Cole, acting general manager, Scotland and Cumbria, for Virgin Trains. ‘It’s also great news for our staff because it proves that their hard work in delivering quality customer service has encouraged passengers to stay with us once they have tried rail instead of air.’
Virgin operates 13 Pendolino trains a day in each direction between Glasgow Central and London Euston with a typical schedule of 4 hours 32 minutes.
East Coast Trains
eastcoast.co.uk
Operates between London and Leeds, York, Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh, and on up to Inverness and Aberdeen.
‘East Coast has been working hard to attract business travellers to the benefits of travelling by train,’ says a spokesman for the company, ‘with major improvements planned to the timetable and a first class on-board service from 22 May 2011.
‘The new timetable will bring more than three million additional seats per year to the East Coast route, with 19 new services per weekday, an improved frequency and pattern of services, and faster typical journeys for millions of passengers. It will add new direct return services from London King’s Cross to Lincoln and Harrogate, and a new four-hour “Flying Scotsman” express service between Edinburgh and London King’s Cross, calling at Newcastle only and arriving in London at 9.40am.
‘At the same time, East Coast will also introduce a new complimentary at-seat menu for passengers travelling in first class, as well as improving our Wi-Fi on-board the train, with a £600,000 investment in 2010, to improve the speed and reliability for our passengers. Wi-Fi is free for first class passengers and is also available in our first class lounges at key destinations on our route, where first and business class travellers can enjoy a relaxing and quieter environment in the station, with complimentary refreshments available for passengers while awaiting their train.’
