Chiltern Railways introducing new timetable from Monday 12 April

Chiltern Railways will be introducing a new timetable from Monday 12 April to coincide with the next step in the Government’s roadmap for easing lockdown restrictions in England.

The new timetable will increase services on the London Marylebone – Amersham – Aylesbury line as well as providing more services between London and Oxford, and London and Birmingham, as non-essential retail reopens, and other activities are able to resume.

On weekdays there will be, on average, three trains an hour to Aylesbury (two via the Metropolitan line and one via High Wycombe), and two trains an hour to Oxford and Birmingham, representing an increase of 57% in peak services.

On weekends from Saturday 17 April there will be two trains an hour from Marylebone calling at Oxford and Bicester Village, faster services to High Wycombe from London and two trains per hour during busy periods between London and Birmingham. Customers looking to travel on weekends are advised to check the Chiltern Railways website for train times as there may be changes to the timetable due to events taking place.

The new timetable represents 82% of Chiltern’s pre-Covid level of services and is the tenth major change to the Chiltern timetable since the first national lockdown in March 2020.

Chiltern has adapted service levels to reflect local and national restrictions and customer demand over the last 13 months.

Richard Allan, Managing Director, Chiltern Railways said: “We are very much looking forward to welcoming more customers travelling with us from 12 April.

“We have listened to customer and stakeholder feedback to develop a timetable that will meet customer expectations as we expect the number of people travelling to increase steadily from their current level.”

Chiltern has introduced a range of measures including more on-train and station cleaning, and cleaning of trains between journeys since spring 2020 to provide a clean and safe environment for customers and colleagues. These measures will continue and are kept under review to make sure the operator are listening and acting on customer feedback.

Customers are advised to:

• Travel during quieter times where possible,
• Go online or download the Chiltern app to access the latest information and to book tickets,
• Use contactless payments and avoid paying with cash in stations,
• Keep a social distance from customers and staff in stations and onboard trains,
• Wear face coverings at stations and onboard public transport unless exempt,
• Regularly wash your hands before and after your journey,
• Please stay home if you feel unwell.