Cheeky marketing by Birmingham to London competitor Chiltern Railways, encouraging passengers to try out their Mainline service.
Those who do try out Chiltern Mainline might be pleasantly surprised to find:
- Cheaper fares.
- Journey times that are only slightly longer than on Virgin, and maybe be end-to-end shorter if you’re closer to one of Chiltern’s stations.
- Seats which line up with the windows.
- Tables and power sockets.
- Free wifi.
It’s one of the few places in the UK where you can find some genuine competition on a city centre to city centre rail service.
Chiltern have made massive improvements and real investments, i.e. spent their own cash, not claimed investment of public funds as their own, on the route and have worked hard to build a good relationship and understanding with their travelling public.
The CEO of Passenger Focus recently wrote this blog article on his positive Chiltern Mainline experience, and wondered how they can continue to grow the service. I suggested ia a comment that recommendation, word-of-mouth, is very strong in helping the Chiltern cause, but even tongue-in-cheek marketing like this has it’s place.
There’s one thing about the “wrapper ad” on the Metro which strikes me as bizarre. The words “Book now”.
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