Birmingham to London - train or bus?

bargain_babe

I have booked have booked a travelodge saver room for end of November in London but have to now find out how to get there. We have two really cheap choices and just wondered if anyone has experience of either of these.
e-tickets from chiltern railways would be £5 each and journey would take about 2hours 30 mins
or there is a cheap mehgabus ticket which would only be £1 each! would take 3 hours.

Do I go for the real cheap bus bargain or would I be better off on a train - for all of us it would cost £8.50 on the bus or £40 on the train.

Any help would be greatly appreciated guys, thanks.
BBx

Crabman

Virgin Trains from Bham New Street - London Euston is about 1h30 duration though National Express has £1 funfares, you'll need to check both sites for prices using your specific dates of travel and number of passengers

Virgin Trains
National Express

bargain_babe

Thanks crabman, but I looked on those sites and there are no cheap fares going for the dates I need. As I say I have seen these cheap fares and have them on hold at the moment I just need to decide whether it will be train or bus that we want to go on.

A_Nice_Englishman

You need to consider your whole journey, not just the bit between bus/railway stations.

For example, if your hotel was within walking distance of Marylebone station you would save the taxi or tube fares you would need to pay getting there from the coach station and train could be cheaper than coach.

On the other hand, if your hotel was next door to the coach station, coach would be quicker than train.

bargain_babe

I have thought about that and both stations were similar 4.3 miles from if I caught the bus and 3.8 miles if i caught the train. I have decided to spend the extra and go on the train now, as it would be quicker and probably more comfortable (I hope!) we will still have to get around after - but there is some good tips on another thread. Thanks guys for your help.
bbx