Chiltern Railways, formally The Chiltern Railway Company Limited, is a British

train operating company A train operating company (TOC) is a business operating Passenger Trains, passenger trains on the Rail transport in Great Britain, railway system of Great Britain under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the Privatisation ...

that has operated the Chiltern Railways franchise since July 1996. Since 2009, it has been a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

Arriva UK Trains Arriva UK Trains Limited is the company that oversees Arriva's train operating companies in the United Kingdom. It gained its first franchises in February 2000. These were later lost, though several others were gained. In January 2010, with th ...

. Chiltern Railways was founded as M40 Trains by a group of ex-

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

managers backed by John Laing and 3i; in June 1996, it was announced that M40 Trains had been awarded the Chiltern Railways franchise. On 21 July 1996, it took over operations from British Rail. The company promptly commenced the redoubling of the

Chiltern Main Line The Chiltern Main Line is a railway line which links London () and Birmingham ( Moor Street and Snow Hill), the United Kingdom's two largest cities, by a route via High Wycombe, Bicester, Banbury, Leamington Spa and Solihull. It is one of tw ...

under the ''Evergreen'' initiative and ordered the Class 168 ''Clubman''

diesel multiple unit A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...

s (DMUs) to supplement its ex-British Rail fleet. Following the awarding of a 20-year franchise to Chiltern Railways in August 2000, Evergreen phase 2 works begun to raise line speeds around

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, west-northwest of central London and south-southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High W ...

, built two new platforms at its

London Marylebone Marylebone station ( ) is a London station group, Central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the Marylebone area of the City of Westminster. On the National Rail network it is also known as London Marylebone an ...

terminus. In January 2010, a £250 million upgrade package was agreed for Evergreen phase 3, remodelling the line and permitting 100 mph operations, thus greatly reducing journey times. In August 2002, the John Laing Group became the sole owner of Chiltern Railways after buying out all other shareholders; shortly after John Laing's purchase by Henderson Equity Partners, the company was sold to the German publicly owned railway company

Deutsche Bahn The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder. describes itself as the se ...

in January 2008. Chiltern Railways became a subsidiary of

as a result of restructuring during early 2011. Around this time, Chiltern was considered one of the best railway operators in Britain, with

Public Performance Measure The public performance measure (PPM) is a measure of the punctuality and reliability of passenger trains in Britain. It is the percentage of scheduled trains which successfully run their entire planned route, calling at all timetabled stations, a ...

(PPM) regularly over 90%. However, the introduction of new timetables during the 2010s was repeatedly received negatively by the travelling public. Severe disruption to Chiltern's services occurred following the collapse of

Gerrards Cross Tunnel Gerrards Cross Tunnel is a railway tunnel in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, on the Chiltern Main Line. The purpose of the tunnel was to enable a new Tesco supermarket to be built over the railway line. Plans were initially met with anger by lo ...

on 30 June 2005; an unplanned six week closure of the main line was forced, resulting in compensation being paid by

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

to both Chiltern Railways and

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

. Chiltern Railways operates commuter/regional rail passenger services from its central London terminus at Marylebone along the M40 corridor to destinations in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

and

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, as well as long-distance services to the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

along two routes. Services on the

run from London to , and , with some peak-hour services extended to . Chiltern Railways also runs trains on the

London–Aylesbury line The London–Aylesbury line is a railway line between Marylebone station, London Marylebone and Aylesbury, going via the Chiltern Hills; passenger trains are operated by Chiltern Railways. Nearly half of the line is owned by London Underground, a ...

to (some of which continue on to ), and on the Princes Risborough to Aylesbury and Oxford to Bicester branch lines. From December 2010, Chiltern began operating the ''Chiltern Mainline'' service of two peak-hour locomotive-hauled services consisting of a Class 67 hauling a rake of modernised

Mark 3 Mark 3 is the third chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It relates a conflict over healing on the Sabbath, the commissioning of the Twelve Apostles, a conflict with scribes and a meeting of Jesus with h ...

coaches and a

Driving Van Trailer A Driving Van Trailer (DVT) is a Great Britain, British purpose-built control car railway vehicle that allows the driver to operate with a locomotive in Push-pull train, push-pull formation from the opposite end of a train. A key benefit of ...

History

Chiltern Railways originated with a number of former British Rail managers who sought to conduct a

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena of 1 ...

on one of the soon-to-be-created rail franchises that would be produced as a part of the

privatisation of British Rail The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, it had been completed by 1997. The deregulation of the industr ...

. In April 1995, they were granted a licence by the railway regulator. However, the team recognised that they lacked the resources to successfully pursue a bid, thus they secured the backing of the infrastructure investment group John Laing and the

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...

specialist 3i. In October 1995, ''M40 Trains Limited'' which was established; the various railway managers held a combined 51% shareholding in the business, while the John Laing Group and 3i held 26% and 23% stakes respectively. The company reportedly spent £38 million in its bid for the Chiltern Railways franchise. In June 1996, the

Director of Passenger Rail Franchising The Director of Passenger Rail Franchising was a statutory office in the United Kingdom created in 1993 by the Railways Act 1993 and usually called the Franchising Director. It lasted from 5 November 1993 until 31 January 2001 when it was supe ...

awarded the franchise to M40 Trains for an initial period of seven years. It was the only franchise operator to have as many as 51% of its shared controlled by its directors. On 21 July 1996, the company commenced operations, taking over from the publicly owned

. Chiltern Railways was the first railway franchise to order new rolling stock in the post-privatisation era in the form of the Class 168 ''Clubman''

s (DMUs). However, their introduction was marred by unreliability, in part due to their rushed entry into service in respond to booming passenger demand. By April 1999, the company claimed to employ 50% more staff than it had at the start of the franchise, and to be running 25% more services than had been operated by British Rail. Meanwhile, under the terms of the franchise agreement, the annual subsidy provided by the British government was gradually reduced. During early 1999, the ownership of M40 Trains underwent substantial changes; the John Laing Group opted to increase its shareholding in the venture to 84% via the purchase of shares from their previous holders; the outstanding 16% of shares were owned by several members of the former British Rail management team. During March 2000, the Shadow

Strategic Rail Authority The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom set up under the Transport Act 2000 to provide strategic direction for Rail transport in the United Kingdom, the railway industry. Its motto was 'Brita ...

announced that both M40 Trains and the British transport group Go-Ahead had been shortlisted to bid for the next Chiltern franchise. In August 2000, M40 Trains was awarded the new franchise, which was set to run for 20 years, conditional on various investments being made across that period. On 3 March 2002, the new franchise period commenced. In August 2002, John Laing acquired the remaining 16% of shares in M40 Trains that it did not already own. In September 2006, John Laing was purchased by the global investment firm Henderson Equity Partners in exchange for £887 million. During December 2004, Chiltern Railways took over operation of passenger services on the to branch line from

First Great Western Link First Great Western Link (FGWL) was a train operating company in England owned by FirstGroup that operated the Thames franchise from April 2004 until March 2006. History In April 2003 the Strategic Rail Authority invited FirstGroup and Go-Ahe ...

. In June 2006, M40 Trains was invited by the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...

to lodge a bid to operate the Snow Hill Lines, then operated by

Central Trains Central Trains was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated a variety of local and inter-regional trains from 2 March 1997 until 11 November 2007. Overview Created out of the Central division of ...

, as part of the letting of the

franchise. However, this bid was not successful. During mid-2005, Chiltern Railways' services were heavily disrupted by the collapse of

. In 1996, the British retailer

sought to build a supermarket near

Gerrards Cross railway station Gerrards Cross railway station is a railway station in the town of Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire, England. It is on the Chiltern Main Line between and . History The station was built as part of the Great Western and Great Central Joint Ra ...

; despite the local council's initial objection to the scheme, it was approved by the

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

John Prescott John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott (born 31 May 1938) is a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and as First Secretary of State from 2001 to 2007. A member of the Labour Party, he w ...

in July 1998. Due to a lack of available space, Tesco started building a tunnel over the active railway line to provide suitable land for the development. On 30 June 2005, the partially-constructed tunnel collapsed; nobody was injured, but a complete closure of the line was enacted for over six weeks before being permitted to reopen on 20 August 2005. Tesco paid an estimated £200million of compensation to both Chiltern Railways and Network Rail for the disruption; the retailer also pledged to fund a media campaign to win back passengers lost by the route's unplanned closure.. The tunnel's construction resumed in January 2009. In late November 2010, the completed store was opened. In July 2007, Henderson Equity Partners announced that its intention to sell on Laing Rail along with the Chiltern Railways franchise. Amongst the parties to express interest in acquiring the company were the transport groups

Arriva Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.Go-Ahead. However, by December 2007, only the German publicly owned railway company

and the Dutch transport company NedRail reportedly remained in the bidding contest. In January 2008, Laing Rail was purchased by Deutsche Bahn; accordingly Chiltern Railways became a part of the

DB Regio DB Regio AG is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn which operates regional and commuter train services in Germany. DB Regio AG, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. It is a 100% subsidiary of the Deutsche Bahn Group and there part of the DB Regio bus ...

group. During early 2011, the company was restructured, with DB Regio becoming a subsidiary of

. During May 2011, Chiltern took over operating services on the

Oxford–Bicester line The Oxford–Bicester line is a railway line linking Oxford and Bicester in Oxfordshire, England. Opened in 1850, later becoming part of a through route to Cambridge, it closed in 1967 along with much of the rest of the original line. The sect ...

from

First Great Western Great Western Railway (GWR) is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the Greater Western passenger railway franchise. It manages 197 stations and its trains call at over 270. GWR operates long-distance inter-city ...

. On 26 October 2015, the company opened two new stations,

Oxford Parkway Oxford Parkway railway station is a railway station at Water Eaton, Oxfordshire, on the Oxford–Bicester line. Full regular weekday service began on Monday 26 October 2015, although the first passengers travelled the previous day on a Sunday t ...

and

Bicester Village Bicester Village is a designer outlet shopping centre on the outskirts of Bicester, a town in Oxfordshire, England. It is owned by Value Retail plc. The centre opened in 1995. The centre is the second most visited location in the United Kingdom ...

, providing services between north Oxford and London Marylebone. In December 2016, Chiltern Railways started running train services from Oxford to London Marylebone. Chiltern Railways was one of several train operators impacted by the

2022 United Kingdom railway strike The 2022 United Kingdom railway strikes are an ongoing industrial dispute in the United Kingdom that has seen the largest instance of industrial action in the country since 1989. It commenced on 21 June after members of the National Union of Rai ...

, which was the first national rail strike in the UK for three decades. Its workers were amongst those who participated in

industrial action Industrial action (British English) or job action (American English) is a temporary show of dissatisfaction by employees—especially a strike action, strike or slowdown or working to rule—to protest against bad working conditions or low pay a ...

due to a dispute over pay and working conditions.

Services

Chiltern Railways operates regular services on five routes. The

is the core route for the majority of Chiltern Railways services and is one of two "mainline routes" operated by the company. The route links the major cities of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

(Marylebone and Snow Hill stations respectively), passing through the towns of

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, south-southeast of Ayl ...

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...

Royal Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

and

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe i ...

. Chiltern Railways operates trains along the entire line, services ranging from stopping suburban trains (e.g. London Marylebone – Gerrards Cross) to express trains running the full length of the line between London and Birmingham. The fastest timetabled journey from Birmingham to London by this route is 99minutes (compared with 82minutes using

Avanti West Coast Avanti West Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership franchise. During November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the Inter ...

services between

Birmingham New Street Birmingham New Street is the largest and busiest of the Birmingham station group, three main railway stations in Birmingham city centre, England, and a central hub of the Rail transport in the United Kingdom, British railway system. It is a ma ...

and

London Euston Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city railw ...

via the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

). In addition to the Chiltern Railways services,

CrossCountry CrossCountry (legal name XC Trains Limited) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Arriva UK Trains, operating the Cross Country franchise. The CrossCountry franchise was restructured by the Department for Transport (DfT) ...

also operates regular services on the line north of Banbury, and

West Midlands Trains West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trade names: West Midlands Railway (WMR) (within the ...

operates regular services north of

Dorridge Dorridge is a large village in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the West Midlands (county), England. Historically part of the historic counties of England, historic county of Warwickshire, the village is encompassed within the electoral wa ...

. The

is the second "mainline route" operated by the company. The route links London (Marylebone) with

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...

via Amersham. All Chiltern Railways services on this route run the full length of the line between Marylebone and Aylesbury stations and call at all stations north of Amersham; most trains are extended one station further to Aylesbury Vale Parkway. The line runs alongside

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

Metropolitan line The Metropolitan line, colloquially known as the Met, is a London Underground line between in the City of London and and in Buckinghamshire, with branches to in Hertfordshire and in Hillingdon. Printed in magenta on the tube map, the line i ...

between (just north of Marylebone station) and Harrow-on-the-Hill, each operator running on separate tracks. Beyond Harrow-on-the-Hill, the tracks are shared between Chiltern Railways and Metropolitan line services. This is an example of National Rail services using non-

tracks, and it uses a unique unregulated track-access agreement with London Underground. Beyond Amersham (where the Metropolitan line terminates), all services are operated by Chiltern Railways only. The other three routes regularly served by the company are all branch lines. The

Aylesbury–Princes Risborough line The Aylesbury–Princes Risborough line is a rural branch line between Princes Risborough and Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. The line is single track throughout with a maximum speed of 40 mph.Princes Risborough Princes Risborough () is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England, about south of Aylesbury and north west of High Wycombe. It lies at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, at the north end of a gap or pass through the Chilterns, the south end ...

, on the Chiltern Main Line, with Aylesbury, on the London to Aylesbury Line. Most trains on the line continue beyond Princes Risborough to London Marylebone, which gives Aylesbury an alternative route to reach central London; however, a few services terminate at Princes Risborough. The

branches off the Chiltern Main Line just south of Bicester and links the town with

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. The line is mostly served by express services to and from Marylebone. Until December 2016, the line terminated a few miles northeast of Oxford, at the nearby Oxford Parkway station; the line was then extended to the main Oxford station. The Leamington–Stratford line branches off the Chiltern Main Line at Hatton (a few miles west of Leamington Spa) and runs to

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-we ...

. The branch line is also operated by regular West Midlands Trains services. As of December 2022, its routes off-peak Monday to Friday include:

Extension to Kidderminster

At peak times on weekdays, some services between London Marylebone and Birmingham are extended beyond the latter, to and from (via ). These trains run to Marylebone in the morning peak and return towards Kidderminster in the evening peak. The trains also call at some stations between Birmingham Moor Street and Kidderminster, although not all services have the same calling pattern. , there are four trains per day in each direction between Marylebone and Kidderminster, plus another one which is extended only as far as Stourbridge Junction. On Saturdays, there are also four morning trains from Kidderminster to Marylebone from the December 2017 return services in the evening were introduced. There were no Chiltern Railways service to Kidderminster on Sundays until the December 2017 timetable when two trains in each direction were introduced. Regular trains between Birmingham Moor Street, Stourbridge Junction and Kidderminster are operated by

as part of its ''Snow Hill route'' service.

Parliamentary trains

Chiltern Railways operates two parliamentary train services: * ''Cherwell Valley line'': there is a single daily

parliamentary service A parliamentary train was a passenger service operated in the United Kingdom to comply with the Railway Regulation Act 1844 that required train companies to provide inexpensive and basic rail transport for less affluent passengers. The act requ ...

operating on the Cherwell Valley Line from to Banbury, operated by Chiltern Railways. This service runs on Tuesdays to Saturdays just after midnight and calls at , and - the three intermediate stations on the line. There is no corresponding return service heading towards Oxford. This service exists to maintain route knowledge for Chiltern Railways' drivers. Regular services on the line are operated by

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

and

. * ''New North Main line/Greenford branch line'': the company also operated a weekday parliamentary service to and from in the late morning. Until December 2018, these services ran to and from . They were then diverted to West Ealing following closure of the easternmost section of the New North Main line for

High Speed 2 High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...

construction. The parliamentary service used to run a return service, with the returning service terminating at High Wycombe. At the start of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the service was suspended until December 2021. , the service no longer runs and has been replaced by a bus service.

Buckinghamshire Railway Centre

On certain Bank Holiday Mondays, services are extended from Aylesbury to the Buckinghamshire Railway Heritage Centre facilities at , a short way north of . However, this did not happen in 2019 and their future is uncertain. The link will continue to be used by freight services to Calvert.

Tickets

Since winning the franchise, Chiltern has introduced "Route: High Wycombe" tickets for the Chiltern route between Birmingham and London that are considerably cheaper than "Route: Any Permitted" tickets, valid on the faster

service to London Euston as well a number of other operators and routes. Chiltern offers only standard class, not standard and First Class as on Avanti services. However, Chiltern does offer a

premium economy Premium economy class, also known as elite economy class or economy plus class, is a travel class offered on some airlines. It is usually positioned between standard economy class and business class in terms of price, comfort, and available amen ...

"Business Zone" carriage on a small number of peak-time trains between Birmingham or Oxford and London. Passengers pay an upgrade fee to sit in a larger first-class-style seat; and formerly, this upgrade came with complimentary refreshments but, since May 2017, refreshment services have been cut on all Chiltern Railways services, meaning the "Business Zone" no longer comes with complimentary refreshments.

Performance

Chiltern Railways' early operations were subject to considerable criticism. During 1998, its poor performance figures in criteria such as reliability, punctuality, and customer approval has led to financial penalties being incurred by the company, some of which was in the form of refunds to its passengers. By the mid-2010s, Chiltern was considered one of the best railway operators in Britain, with

(PPM) regularly over 90%, until the introduction of changes in November 2015, and infrastructure issues saw punctuality fall to 86% in December 2015. Chiltern's PPM is measured on stricter conditions than its long-distance rivals, such as

, as Chiltern has a five-minute window for performance while others have a ten-minute window. Performance figures published by Network Rail rate Chiltern Railways sixth in train operating companies in the UK at 89.4% (PPM – period 9) and 94.3% (MAA) for the year to 12 December 2015. A new timetable introduced in September 2011, combined with significant disruption caused by engineering work, caused a negative reaction from customers. A petition to have the service reviewed was started, and articles describing the disrupted journeys of commuters appeared in the local press. A new timetable introduced in December 2012 also met with frustration and opposition from some customers, particularly those using Saunderton and Princes Risborough stations. Chiltern passenger numbers

Project Evergreen

Evergreen is the name given by Chiltern to the major infrastructure works that the company has committed to over the 20-year duration of its franchise to improve routes and services. This has been divided into three distinct phases.

Evergreen 1

The main focus of phase 1 was the redoubling of the

between and , with work taking place during 1998, as well as between Bicester North and

Aynho Junction Aynho (, formerly spelt ''Aynhoe'') is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, on the edge of the Cherwell valley south-east of the north Oxfordshire town of Banbury and southwest of Brackley. Along with its neighbour C ...

during 2001. Furthermore, several stations were subject to reconstruction works. was rebuilt to have two operational platforms instead of a single platform; a new platform was also installed at . Finally, the line speed limit was raised following appropriate infrastructure improvements.

Evergreen 2

Phase 2 commenced shortly following the award of Chiltern's 20-year franchise period in August 2000. The most extensive works undertaken was the realignment of the route through , which permitted line speeds to be increased to . Further improvements in this phase included the enactment of signalling improvements between High Wycombe and Bicester, as well as between Princes Risborough and Aylesbury, two new platforms were constructed at London Marylebone on land formerly occupied by the carriage sidings, while a new depot was constructed at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

Evergreen 3

The

, Chiltern Railways and

agreed in January 2010 to a £250million upgrade of the Chiltern Main Line.

Phase 1

Phase 1 of the project, now complete, involved upgrading the Marylebone – Birmingham Chiltern Main Line to permit running on an additional of route. Junctions at Neasden, Northolt and

Aynho Aynho (, formerly spelt ''Aynhoe'') is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, on the edge of the Cherwell valley south-east of the north Oxfordshire town of Banbury and southwest of Brackley. Along with its neighbour C ...

were remodelled to permit higher speeds. The 'up' through track has been restored at , the existing 'up' line becoming a platform loop, a new turnback siding has been provided at , and a new, straighter 'down' through track built from Northolt Junction (where the original layout favoured the now little-used Paddington route) to Ruislip Gardens. The existing 'down' track continues to serve station. The former speed restrictions through have been removed to permit 100mph running. Two additional terminating platforms at Birmingham Moor Street were reopened in December 2010. Accelerated services were initially planned to start in May 2011, but there were delays and it was not until 5 September 2011 that Chiltern was able to introduce a new timetable to take advantage of the improvements. As a result of the speed increases, journey times have been reduced significantly. From Marylebone, the fastest peak-hour journey time to Birmingham Moor Street is now 90minutes, instead of 117minutes previously. Chiltern Railways former chairman

Adrian Shooter Adrian Shooter (22 November 1948 – 13 December 2022) was a British transport executive. Career Shooter joined British Rail in 1970 as a management trainee. He became maintenance engineer at Bletchley in the mid-1970s, then depot manager at ...

stated: "This is the biggest passenger rail project for several generations not to call on the taxpayer for support. Working closely with Network Rail, we are going to create a new main-line railway for the people of Oxfordshire and the Midlands. This deal demonstrates that real improvements to rail services can be paid for without public subsidy by attracting people out of their cars and on to trains." The table below outlines the peak timetable improvements.

Phase 2

During October 2012, the

Secretary of State for Transport The Secretary of State for Transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Department for Transport. The incumbent i ...

granted permission for work to begin on Phase 2 of the Evergreen 3 project, with services between London Marylebone and Oxford. Under Phase 2, a quarter-of-a-mile double track has been constructed joining the

at to the Chiltern Main Line, allowing a new Oxford to London Marylebone service to operate. A new station, , has been constructed at Water Eaton; the service between Oxford Parkway and London started on 26 October 2015, with the link from Oxford Parkway to becoming operational on 12 December 2016. All signalling on the route (including the new platforms at Oxford) is controlled by the Marylebone Signalling Centre. As part of Phase 2, the Oxford to Bicester Village service transferred from

to Chiltern in May 2011. Part of the line between Wolvercote Tunnel (on the outskirts of Oxford) and Bicester Village was restored to double track, and the scheme included additional platforms at Oxford, and Bicester Village. Network Rail provided the capital for the upgrade and will recover this through a facility charge over the subsequent 30 years, initially payable by Chiltern until its franchise expires, and then by the next franchisee. The infrastructure upgrade was carried out by main contractor

BAM Nuttall BAM Nuttall Limited (formerly known as Edmund Nuttall Limited) is a construction and civil engineering company headquartered in Camberley, United Kingdom. It has been involved in a portfolio of road, rail, nuclear, and other major projects worldw ...

, in partnership with Jarvis and

WS Atkins Atkins is a British multinational engineering, design, planning, architectural design, project management and consulting services company. It is a subsidiary of SNC-Lavalin and is headquartered in London. The company was founded as WS Atkins & ...

Oxfordshire County Council Oxfordshire County Council is the county council (upper-tier local authority) for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire in the South East of England. It is an elected body responsible for some local government services in the county, includ ...

supported the scheme, but required convincing of the benefits of the new Oxford Parkway station at Water Eaton, which is in the

Green Belt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which hav ...

. In November 2011, there was a further setback to the project when a planning inspector withheld approval due to the discovery of bats roosting in Wolvercote Tunnel.

Great crested newt The northern crested newt, great crested newt or warty newt (''Triturus cristatus'') is a newt species native to Great Britain, northern and central continental Europe and parts of Western Siberia. It is a large newt, with females growing up to ...

s also had a breeding habitat close to the route. In early 2012, the "bat problem" was apparently resolved.

Rolling stock

Chiltern Railways inherited a fleet of 34 Class 165 ''Turbos''

s (DMUs) from British Rail. From the franchise's onset in July 1996, the company publicly promised to introduce new rolling stock. During December 2004, a further five Class 165s were transferred from

. Between 2003 and 2005, all 39 Class 165s were overhauled by Bombardier at

Ilford EMU Depot Ilford EMU Depot is a traction maintenance depot located in Ilford, Greater London, England. The depot is situated on the Great Eastern Main Line and is on the north side of the line to the east of Ilford station, between that station and Sev ...

; during this work,

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

units were installed throughout the fleet, while the hopper opening windows were removed; a first-class seating area was also implemented. As the fleet had been designed for suburban use, rather than InterCity travel, the Class 165s tend to be concentrated on services to Aylesbury and Banbury, although this stock can also be found operating the service between Birmingham and Leamington Spa. Chiltern ordered several batches of Class 168 ''Clubman'' DMUs. Between 1998 and 2004, these entered revenue service, the company eventually operated nine three-car and ten four-car sets. These operate across the network. During April 2003, Chiltern restored a single Class 121 ''Bubble Car'' for use on the to shuttles. In May 2011, a second Class 121 followed after being overhauled at

Tyseley TMD Tyseley TMD is a railway traction maintenance depot situated in Tyseley, Birmingham, England. Origins To counter the critic of the Great Western Railway (GWR) actually standing for ''"The Great Way Round"'', the GWR started a series of straig ...

. During March 2013, a third Class 121 (121032) was acquired from

Arriva Trains Wales Arriva Trains Wales (ATW; cy, Trenau Arriva Cymru) was a British train operating company owned by Arriva UK Trains that operated the Wales & Borders franchise. It ran urban and inter-urban passenger services to all railway stations in Wales, ...

for use as a spare parts donor. On 19 May 2017, the Chiltern Bubble cars ran for the last time, as their age made spare parts increasingly difficult to obtain. In January 2008, Chiltern ordered four two-coach Class 172 ''Turbostars''; these entered service during June 2011. Because they cannot be fitted with the tripcock safety equipment necessary to operate on

lines, none of the Class 172s can operate via unless attached to a Class 165 or Class 168 DMU. Although initially intended for use on all-stations services out of London, they frequently operated as far afield as Birmingham. During mid-2021, all of Chiltern's Class 172s were leased to

for use with their existing Class 172 fleet pending the delivery of

British Rail Class 196 The British Rail Class 196 '' Civity'' is a class of diesel multiple unit built for West Midlands Trains by Spanish rolling stock manufacturer CAF. A total of 26 units have been built; 12 two-car units and 14 four-car units. They are the first ...

DMUs. In December 2021, it was later announced that the Class 172/1 fleet would not be returning to Chiltern once the Class 196s enter service with WMT. Starting in December 2010, Chiltern began operating two peak-hour loco-hauled services consisting of a Class 67 diesel locomotive hauling a rake of

coaches and a

. A single set was initially hired from fellow DB Regio subsidiary

Wrexham & Shropshire Wrexham & Shropshire (legally ''Wrexham, Shropshire & Marylebone Railway Company Limited'') was an open access operator that provided passenger rail services in the United Kingdom. Services between Wrexham and London Marylebone operated from A ...

to operate a Birmingham Moor Street to

service while another was made up of some DB-Regio-owned Mark 3s painted in

blue/grey and

Virgin Trains Virgin Trains (legal name West Coast Trains Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Virgin Rail Group, a joint venture between Virgin Group and Stagecoach, which operated the InterCity West Coast franchise from 9 ...

livery and operated from to London Marylebone. After

ceased operations in January 2011, Chiltern started using a second ex-Wrexham & Shropshire set from May 2011. For the introduction of Chiltern's new timetable in September 2011, these sets had a ''Mainline'' logo and blue stripes added to their silver livery. Motive power continued to be provided by several Class 67s, including 67010, 67012-015 and 67018, all of which had been modified to operate with

s. During 2012, the ex-Wrexham & Shropshire Mark 3 coaches were overhauled and fitted with sliding plug doors (similar to those fitted to

South West Trains Stagecoach South Western Trains Limited, trading as South West Trains (SWT), was an English train operating company owned by Stagecoach Group, Stagecoach, which operated the South Western franchise between February 1996 and August 2017. SWT op ...

' Class 444 ''Desiros'') and toilet retention tanks by

Wabtec Wabtec Corporation (derived from Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation) is an American company formed by the merger of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO) and MotivePower Industries Corporation in 1999. It is headquartered ...

Doncaster Works Doncaster Railway Works is a railway workshop located in Doncaster, England. Also referred to as The Plant''", it was established by the Great Northern Railway in 1853, replacing the previous works in Boston and Peterborough. Until 1867 it un ...

. Once this work was completed, a further ten Mark 3s were overhauled by Wabtec to create a fifth set and to extend the existing sets up to six coaches. In 2012, the DB-Regio-owned Mark 3s used on the peak-hour Banbury service were given a light overhaul at

LNWR The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lond ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, and the Virgin-liveried examples repainted into British Rail blue/grey. To allow Class 168s to be cascaded to the new Oxford services as part of Evergreen 3, more Mark 3s are to be returned to service in the future. Between 2015 and 2016, Class 170 ''Turbostars'' with

First TransPennine Express First TransPennine Express was a British train operating company jointly owned by FirstGroup and Keolis which operated the TransPennine Express franchise. First TransPennine Express ran regular Express regional railway services between the major ...

transferred to Chiltern Railways. Chiltern took five of the First TransPennine Class 170s from May 2015 and the remaining four in July 2016. Upon delivery, the Class 170s were modified to allow them to be used with Chiltern's existing Class 168s, and reclassified as Class 168/3s. In early 2014, Chiltern Railways agreed a sub-lease from

Direct Rail Services Direct Rail Services (DRS) is a rail freight company in Great Britain. As of 2022, it is one of seven publicly owned railway companies in the United Kingdom, the others being NI Railways (the passenger rail operator in Northern Ireland), LNER, ...

(DRS) for six Class 68 locomotives for use on its London Marylebone to Birmingham service to replace the existing fleet of Class 67s. Maintenance and commissioning for the new fleet is assisted by DRS. During 2017, Chiltern Railways entered into an agreement with Artemis Intelligent Power and the

Rail Safety and Standards Board The Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) is a British independent company limited by guarantee. Interested parties include various rail industry organisations, including Network Rail, train operating companies (TOCs), and rolling stock comp ...

to provide one of its redundant DVTs as a donor vehicle for conversion into a new type of diesel locomotive. In July 2021, Chiltern Railways converted a single Class 168 unit (168329) into a Battery Hybrid train, referred to as "HybridFlex"; during February 2022, it was first run on services between London and Aylesbury. The company promoted the HybridFlex as increasing acceleration while reducing fuel consumption, vibration, and noise emissions, along with lessening the environmental impact of rail travel.

Current fleet

Past fleet

Former train types operated by Chiltern Railways include:

Plans

In addition to the completed Evergreen initiatives, other potential enhancements for Chiltern's route have been discussed, but had not progressed as at the end of 2017. These include: * Upgrading the

Acton–Northolt line The Acton–Northolt line (ANL), historically known as the New North main line (NNML), is a railway line in West London, England. Built between 1903 and 1906, it runs from the Great Western Main Line at Old Oak Common TMD to the Chiltern Main L ...

(formerly the "New North Main Line") to new platforms at . This upgrade will also extend to to increase capacity on the

as there is no room to expand the station at Marylebone. * Restoration of fast through lines at

as part of a longer-term aspiration for a 90-minute journey time between London and Birmingham. * Remodelling Banbury Station and tracks. * Building of the

West Hampstead interchange West Hampstead is an area in north-west London, England that is served by a number of different stations, all of which have very similar names. Although physically separate, they are near each other and the stations form a railway interchange. ...

to allow easy interchange with the

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a ...

North London Line The North London line (NLL) is a railway line which passes through the inner suburbs of west, north-west, north, and east London, England between Richmond in the south-west and Stratford in the east, avoiding central London. Its route is a rou ...

Jubilee line The Jubilee line is a London Underground line that runs between in east London and in the suburban north-west, via the Docklands, South Bank and West End. Opened in 1979, it is the newest line on the Underground network, although some secti ...

, Metropolitan line and

Thameslink Thameslink is a 24-hour main-line route in the British railway system, running from , , , and via central London to Sutton, , , Rainham, , , , and . The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying m ...

services. * New Chiltern Metro Service that would operate more than four trains per hour for Wembley Stadium, Sudbury & Harrow Road, Sudbury Hill Harrow, Northolt Park, South Ruislip and West Ruislip. This would require a reversing facility at West Ruislip, passing loops at Sudbury Hill Harrow, and a passing loop at Wembley Stadium (part of the old down fast line is in use as a central reversing siding, for stock movements and additionally for eight-car football shuttles to convey passengers to the stadium for events). This 'Chiltern Metro' service was not programmed into the last round of franchising agreements. * Re-opening the passenger line between and as part of the

East West Rail East West Rail is a major project to establish a strategic railway connecting East Anglia with Central, Southern and Western England. In particular, it plans to build (or rebuild) a line linking Oxford and Cambridge via Bicester, Milton Keyne ...

project, and from to East West Rail at Claydon LNE Junction to provide a route to

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

and the

via . Two miles of the line north of Aylesbury re-opened on 14 December 2008, terminating at a new station, . However, during late 2017, the Government announced that the private company, East West Rail Company, had been formed to build and operate the line exclusively. * Opening a rail line from

to an M6- M1 Parkway Station near

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

. * Extending Oyster Pay-as-you-go to and . Since successful completion of Project Evergreen 3 has fulfilled Chiltern Railways' obligation to invest in infrastructure, there is no clear road to completion for these projects.

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

*
Evergreen 3 Project
{{Deutsche Bahn Arriva Group companies John Laing Group Railway companies established in 1996 Railway operators in London Rail transport in Buckinghamshire Train operating companies in the United Kingdom 1996 establishments in England