London Northwestern launches Standard Plus seats, including on Birmingham to Liverpool trains

Passengers on London Northwestern Railway can now pay a little extra to sit in a dedicated area of the train, after the operator launched new Standard Plus areas on many of its services, including trains between Birmingham New Street and Liverpool Lime Street.

The first Standard Plus carriages are now open, with customers able to buy a seat upgrade on board. Standard Plus tickets will also be available to buy online for journeys from Monday 16 November, the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce reported.

Made possible by a new fleet

The new offer has been made possible by London Northwestern's new fleet of Class 730 electric trains, which the operator says has significantly increased capacity on its routes to and from London Euston.

Jonny Wiseman, LNR's customer experience and commercial director, said: "The introduction of our fantastic new Class 730 fleet means we have more than 40,000 extra seats at the busiest times to make journeys more comfortable for our customers."

"This extra space means we've been able to expand our offering with our new Standard Plus ticket, giving passengers the chance to sit in a dedicated carriage," he said. "We are pleased to officially open these exclusive areas today and look forward to welcoming more Standard Plus customers on board over the coming months."

Which routes have it

Standard Plus seating is available on routes including:

Crewe to London Euston via Lichfield Trent Valley.

Birmingham New Street to Liverpool Lime Street.

The dedicated areas offer at-seat features not available in other parts of the train.

A trial until March

Standard Plus is being run as a trial until Wednesday 31 March 2027. Passengers can buy an upgrade on board while the trial runs.

What it means for Birmingham passengers

London Northwestern is one of the busiest operators out of Birmingham, running local and longer-distance services from New Street to destinations including Liverpool, Crewe, Northampton and London. The new trains have added thousands of seats at the busiest times of day.

For regular travellers to Liverpool, Standard Plus offers a middle option between standard and premium travel. As always, it is worth comparing prices before travelling: passengers who simply want a seat may find the extra capacity on the new trains makes standard class more comfortable than it used to be, while those who want to work on the move now have another choice.

Anyone wanting to try it can buy an upgrade on board now, or book Standard Plus online from 16 November, subject to availability.