I noticed the 390s today at Piccadilly on the Birmingham run, interestingly one of them was the wrong way around with standard at the front.
I find that statement by the spokesman ironic, "huge prize to be had come New Year when passengers will enjoy an increase in services of over 30%". I am sure the passengers of Nuneaton, Tamworth, Litchfield, Rugby, Milton Keynes and Watford will completely agree with you on that!
I am all for high frequency, its great to see the years of work put into action with the WCML, but they should at least let those stations benefit, give'm a couple at least. Why not have two high frequency services to Manchester, and the third a semi fast that could leave 10 mins after the second? I think they should have a rethink on the proposed timetable.