Trains from London to Birmingham

I arrived at Euston via the underground station. At the time of writing (August 2019) you needed to exit the underground into the piazza and enter back into the train station. The piazza is undergoing redevelopment work and they’re looking to turn it into a hub of restaurants and shops.

Entering Euston, you’re faced with a gigantic departures board suspended from the ceiling. People tend to gather underneath – it gets rather crowded at peak times – but it wasn’t too busy at mid-morning on a Friday. The platform entrances line the wall behind the board, numbering 1-16 from right to left as you face it. There are various fast food outlets nestled between the platform entrances; the first floor of the station houses sit-down restaurants.

Unlike most of my train journeys, I’d left myself plenty of time before the scheduled departure. I headed to the ticket machines (located at the back left of the station as you face the departures board) to print off my ticket. There are plenty of machines so I wasn’t left queuing for my ticket. I grabbed a bottle of water from WHSmiths and a coffee from a small doughnut shop tucked away opposite platform 1 - Dum Dum Donutterie. I was dismayed to later find out that ‘donutterie’ is not a real word.

Boarding the train

Having entered my seating preferences while booking through Trainline, I had reserved a window seat in coach B. This was right at the front of the train so it took a couple of minutes to walk to my carriage. The famous "Pendolino" logo adorned the side of the train, set among the red and white characteristic of Avanti West Coast (formerly Virgin Trains).

The service on board

Being in Standard Class, I didn’t benefit from the service available to First Class passengers. However, I did have a peek into the First Class carriage for the purposes of this review and looked rather nice! Seats are arranged in a 2x1 format (as opposed to 2x2 in Standard), every seat has a reading light and hot drinks are served in proper china.

Standard Class was perfectly comfortable, however. My seat had a fold-out table and plug socket, and I had the option of using "The Shop" in carriage C to buy a drink or snack. A meal deal is £5.50, or a piece of cake with a hot drink is £3.50. The free-on-board WiFi was serviceable – cutting out in places but otherwise reliable. Streaming services are blocked on the WiFi but Avanti West Coast (formerly Virgin Trains) do offer their own free-on-board streaming portal, "Avanti Media". You’ll have to download the Avanti Media App to use it.

The journey

But for a handful of pleasant stretches of countryside, the journey isn’t particularly scenic. But it is super quick. I arrived into Birmingham New Street in just under an hour and a half, a few minutes after the scheduled arrival time. The Avanti West Coast (formerly Virgin Trains) service is significantly faster than the London Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street route, which usually takes over two hours. While Avanti West Coast (formerly Virgin Trains) tickets are more expensive, my Super Off-Peak ticket combined with a 16-25 Railcard got me a very good deal indeed!

Freddie's Top Tip:

Make sure you secure a table seat on the window side if you want to guarantee yourself a plug socket.