Palin’s praise for railway
Tuesday 19th January 2010, 8:00PM GMT.
Mr Palin with Lembit Opik MP and Wrexham and Shropshire Staff
I have had cause to visit Shrewsbury on and off over the past few years and, lacking a direct rail route, have opted for a long and often grinding slog on the motorway. Now that Wrexham & Shropshire provides a through service, I arrived in Shrewsbury, just over three hours after leaving London and feeling in altogether better shape, having done some work and enjoyed a fine meal, cooked to order on the train with food sourced from local areas.
This is not the airline food on a tray that so many trains offer, it’s like the very best home cooking.
Perhaps it lacks the hurtling speed of a Pendolino or a TGV, but Wrexham & Shropshire makes up for this in every other way. Nothing is sacrificed for speed, and yet passenger satisfaction figures are at the top end of the scale.
Which surely shows us that people rate a railway on how they’re treated on the train. Wrexham & Shropshire may seem like a throw-back to old-style comforts but I see it as a pioneer setting an example of high service standards which other lines would do well to follow.
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This echoes very much my experience – not the fastest, not the most expensive, but certainly the most enjoyable
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I used the train today to do a return to London for business. I used to drive to Stafford. Despite tsking longer it’s a very different experience even in standard class – takes me back to being a kid!! I saw Michael Palin at Marylebone having his picture taken next to the train. Other trains are faster but much much more expensive and not as friendly and civilised to travel on – there was even a lecture you could listen to this morning – well done Wrexham & Shrops – PROUD!!
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Completely agree. As someone who works near Euston, my monthly visits back home to Wellington are generally done on the Virgin route, but if I’m not in quite such a hurry the W&S service is much preferable. I ordered a sandwich once and was told it would be brought to my seat – the service in every way is fantastic.
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thank god for wrexham and shropshire. Great article.
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Last year my wife travelled home from London on The W & S.The train terminated at Wolverhampton due to a major problem in the Wellington area.I collected my Wife from the station.Some weeks later we wrote to W & S HQ in Shrewsbury explaining the night s problems.We werelater rewarded with a free return to London.
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I used it for a day trip to The Smoke earlier this month. It is slower than the Virgin service from Stafford but it’s more accessible and massively cheaper. Moreover, it is a thoroughly enjoyable service and I cannot recommend it enough.
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A wonderdful service. Cheap and if you leave Telford at 6.09am you are in Marylebone just before 9am.
Nice if the early service stopped at Wellington, but we can’t have everything!
Incidentally, the bacon baps are freshly cooked and are delicious.
Real ale for later in the day, so you are in for a treat.
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I’m a huge fan of W&S. I use the service for business and pleasure. Really looking forward to the new rolling-stock. Their customer service is superior to any other network, and even when things go drastically wrong, the staff on board and those back at the office make amends. I just wish there were more services each day. I genuinely do hope that the company have a long and successful future.
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I was lucky enough to experience the W&S service on their second day, well before they took delivery of the new(er) carriages. I enjoyed a lovely full English served on china crockery with proper cutlery. The journey took three hours, which was a pity as I would have preferred four!
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I’ve only travelled on it once: to get from Telford to the Cosford Air Show. But I was hugely impressed. Very comfortable, and pulled by a unit rarely seen these days.
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Absolutely; it’s a great train company. It makes taking the train at Christmas to visit relatives a positive pleasure.
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people who like the idea of trains and green travel and want to put this town on the map and support the economy must practice what they preach and buy train tickets from Wrexham et al, this is a great compnay and we must back it
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Isn’t it nice to hear something so positive about trains for a change. Well done W & S.
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A colleague of mine based in the US is visiting Telford in March and will be travelling to Shropshire from London. I have sent the link of this artical to her…to ensure that this is the chosen train company. Even sent the link to the W and S web site for the timetable!
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