Press releases

Passengers on Chiltern Railways’ busy commuter service from London Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street enjoyed an unusual journey last week.

Taste of Birmingham offered passengers a preview of the July food festival by handing out bite-sized samples along the route.

Local brewers Marston’s offered samples of their Cask Ale EPA, trialing of a new brewing technology which makes it possible to serve the drink straight from the barrel. This was complemented by specially-prepared Marston’s ale biscuits from Worcestershire restaurant Fusion Brasserie along with cheese supplied by the Snowdonia Cheese Company.

Alan Richardson from Worcestershire Country Cricket club was on hand to promote a special offer ticket which enables lovers of food and cricket to take advantage of discounted entry to the Taste of Birmingham food festival in the on the afternoon of 16 July and the Twenty20 match between Warwickshire and Worcestershire in the evening.

Chiltern Railways, regional sponsors of Taste of Birmingham, went all out to prepare a uniquely branded train to celebrate the event and provide regular customers with a treat. The specially commissioned one-off service gave commuters the opportunity to experience one of Chiltern’s premium trains, normally only operating on the Wrexham and Shropshire line. As part of the luxury train experience customers had the added benefit of being able to buy a range of freshly cooked meals served them in their seats – a first for this route.

Thomas Ableman, Marketing Director at Chiltern Railways said:

“We were delighted to give regular passengers that travel to and from London a sneak preview of this year's Taste of Birmingham event right at their seat. We really wanted to take the opportunity to demonstrate what the festival has to offer our customers and how easy it is to get there with us, and have pulled out all the stops! The Marylebone to Moor Street route offers the business and leisure traveller an excellent alternative option linking the hearts of country’s two largest cities. This event gave us an opportunity to highlight those links.”

Richard Westwood, Marston’s director of brewing, said:

“Our new fastcask™ technology means that even when being constantly disturbed by the movement of the train, we were still be able to serve up a bright, refreshing pint of Marston’s EPA, just as it would be from a pub handpull.

“The train journey represented a landmark in the brewing and locomotive industry and despite beer and trains having been a key part of British lifestyles for hundreds of years we were very excited to see them coming together for the first time.  The Chiltern Line commuters were the first ever people to enjoy a real beer on a train.”

Tim Andrews , Managing Director  from Hollywood  Monster, said:

“We’re delighted to be involved again in Taste of Birmingham and enjoyed ‘dressing’ Chiltern’s train! It’s certainly a fun way of spreading the word about the food festival to passengers on this busy commuter line between two of Britain’s biggest cities.”

Taste of Birmingham takes place 16 – 18 July in Cannon Hill Park. Visitors can sample food from some of the best of the Midlands’ restaurants, get top tips from award-winning chefs and meet local producers.

International cuisine, local talent and quality fresh produce are the themes of the 2010 show and the restaurant line-up includes winners of the F Word’s best local restaurant, Lasan; champions of fresh regional produce, Opus, and award-winning fine-dining restaurant Simpsons.

Head to www.visitbirmingham.com/taste for more details.