[MartinJ]

The secret of well-developed transport systems lies in easy connections between different modes of transport. If only we had a system like in Germany where large airports and high-speed rail are well-connected. Lufthansa have recently expanded their codeshare with German Railways from Frankfurt to include Cologne, Stuttgart and Düsseldorf. Just imagine taking a train from Leeds to Heathrow Terminal 5 direct in 90 minutes. Would we still need feeder flights? Doubt it.

[AMcWhirter]

Hello canucklad

Station barriers can be a nuisance. But, rightly or wrongly, it’s the government who insist that the TOCs install them as part of their franchise commitment.

Why ? Because the government, ie the taxpayer, has to make up any losses from fare dodging.

There are some exceptions where, so far, barriers haven’t been installed for various reasons (eg Sheffield is one example and I believe York is another) but the plan is to roll out the barriers to all busy stations.

I take your point about malfunctioning toilets, air conditioning etc. I guess you’re referring to East Coast ?

I also believe that, just like aircraft, trains are used so intensively nowadays that there’s little if any time for repairs to be carried out on arrival.

I don’t know about East Coast but EMT out of St Pancras only allows 20 to 25 mins turnaround time at the destination. It means EMT’s trains are worked hard right from the time they leave the depot in Derby or Leeds at the crack of dawn until almost midnight when they return home.

Hello SimonS1

The Saturday night rule lives on when it comes to long distance flying.

[SimonS1]

As a matter of interest I tried BA for a future trip later this month to Nairobi – 20th to 22nd May.

Firstly the suggestion re hotel and flight doesn’t work as it seems they don’t offer hotels in Nairobi. Flight price was £1600 unless I stayed the Saturday night (ie an extra 3 nights) when it falls to £750.

Travelling via EK and the flight is £460 and no need to stay the extra 3 nights.

[AllOverTheGaff]

canucklad – 30/04/2013 12:53 GMT
You can choose to have the common sense of an intelligent person, or play out the silliness of a Thomas the Tank character …and not treat us all like fare dodgers….

Hi canucklad

Same 6-Nations this year and I lost my train tickets after way too much celebration juice. I go to high-vis-jacket-wearing dude on gate and tell him my tale of woe and ask if I need to buy another ticket, it must be about 21:30 at night and I am considerably the worse for wear, but still coherent. Guard asks his mate and they agree to let me on – same at Dundee when I arrive, I explain I’m not a dodgy bloke just some half-wit with nae tickets coz the beer-man lost them.

So, in fairness to the staff they recognised I wasn’t some fare-dodging tool and applied common sense.

When I got off at Haymarket there wasn’t a queue to get out though….think that was the Wales game which was our last home game so they might have figured it out by then, I’d been at the other 2 home games but took my car and stayed in our Capital.

Rgds.
AOTG.

[AllOverTheGaff]

Irons80 – 29/04/2013 13:59 GMT
However, I have to disagree about EDI or GLA. Where I live in London, you have to get a cab or tube to Euston or KX, so that can take up to an hour and then you have a 4 hour + train trip. Therefore, I’d rather simply drive to airport, park, enjoy the lounge and then it’s a short flight to EDI. I still feel overall it’s a quicker and nicer experience than the train.

Well, you’d have to factor in a couple of things to your timings:
1) How long it takes you to get to LHR
2) You need to be checked in at LHR 90 minutes before to allow for the awful security
3) You might not get any use of the lounge if security take their time (last two times I’ve flown back from LHR on a domestic flight I’ve not had time for lounge)

The train from Kings Cross to Edinburgh is just over 4 hours, given you are 90 mins before flight and a gate-to-gate of 90 minutes the flight is already at 3 hours, so the net ‘loss of time’ taking out travel to airport or train station is one hour. Once at EDI airport you are another half hour to get to central EDI, wait for bags etc….Waverley is right in the heart of the city.

I entirely disagree about flying from LHR being a more pleasant experience, it is precisely because of LHR that I choose the train, I find flying to/from there awful. Rude staff, long queues, hopeless security, delays, uber crowded lounges and a stressful unpleasant experience every time I fly from there.

My train journey this past weekend could not have been less stressful, no hassles, no crowds, no rude staff, no queues…..very tranquil and at worst it cost me an hour of my time, at best it was much the same time point to point.

Rgds.
AOTG.

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

Hi Simon

You would have to do the 20th to 23rd May or 19th to 22nd May to get a package fare. We have them (not sure which accommodation options we have) but it can be done.

Hope that helps

Tim

[Irons80]

Of course, attitudes towards Heathrow are purely subjective and dependent upon status. As a BAEC Gold, I have never found the fast track security that arduous and I have lounge access. On the train, I would not have lounge access as on an advance first ticket with most TOCs now they don’t allow lounge access and I am not paying the ridiculous full 1st fares. And I am not particularly wanting to sit in standard class for 4 hours.

Each to their own.

[AllOverTheGaff]

I’m BA Silver until the end of next month and always find the fast track slow – always. And particularly rude. Hence I no longer fly from LHR if I can help it.

You can use the lounge at Kings Cross by merely enrolling in East Coast Trains loyalty programme.

I agree entirely about ‘ridiculous’ first-class full fares, which is why I don’t buy those tickets, in the same way I wouldn’t buy those airline tickets as they are cost prohibitive.

Rgds.
AOTG.

[Henkel.Trocken]

East Coast Rewards allows lounge access for points at a very reasonable rate on any ticket or indeed none. You can access any lounge on their network on a given day all as one reward. Virgin allow lounge access on discounted F tickets. It’s a great programme and points accrue quickly.

I’ve given up on short haul travel by air, the train is so much more pleasant and I can pack what I like in my bag. I live nearer to LHR than to KX/EUS but that doesn’t bother me. No security goons to deal with is enough to convince me that I’ve made the right choice.

[capetonianm]

I travel by train a lot both in UK and Europe.

UK long distance services are, at best fit, for purpose. Compared to Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and France (when not on strike) the comfort, speed, space and ride quality are poor. Punctuality is acceptable, and generally so is staff attitude. Rolling stock is often shabby, overcrowded, and dirty. If you pay a low fare, this might be acceptable, but for some of the extortionate unrestricted fares, it’s not. For example, a journey I do frequently from the NW to the SW prices at anything between £26 o/w in second class to £265 in first.

Catering options are very poor on a lot of UK services, with those I’ve mentioned above all doing far better, except France which is, perhaps surprisingly to some, abysmal, unless you consider €12 for a piece of frozen bread with burnt cheese on it, and 500ml. of inferior beer in a squishy plastic cup to be compatible with a nation that unjustifiably prides itself on being leaders in ‘cuisine’. Those days are over.

It’s easy to book using various websites in the UK although you have to know a few tricks to get the best fares and connections, as there is very little transparency. By contrast, as other have said, the DB and SBB sites are excellent, and although limited, so is NS.NL. The SNCF website is, like most French websites, overengineered, dysfunctional, and inefficient. Once you get to the right place though, it delivers and the ticketing machines work.

Italy’s train services (apart from the excellent Freccia services) are appalling, WWII rolling stock, filthy, smelly, and decrepit specially on some local trains. Italy is the only country in Europe where I have felt unsafe on a train. The Trenitalia website is, if possible, worse than the SNCF one and the ticketing machines rarely work.

[AMcWhirter]

Hello capetonian

Next time you’re in Italy, try out the new and privately-run NTV train company.

It is acquiring a fleet of the newest Alstrom AGV trains.

In my opinion these are the best looking high-speed trains which is understandable when you consider that Giugiaro was involved in their design.

NTV is what’s known as an ‘open access’ operator. It is taking advantage of EU rules which allow other companies to compete with the national rail firms.

http://www.ntvspa.it/en/

[canucklad]

Hi AMcW
I think you misunderstood my point about the barriers….Totally appreciate the need for barriers….What I experienced was an overcrowding issue that could have been resolved earlier…as I recall the conductor actually checked our tickets from Linlithgow …even though the train was jammed to the gunnels…possibly even over crowed…& Haymarket is the penultimate stop!!

It just seems to me that Scotrail seem to manage in a very haphazard way at times…putting their “First” money making business principles before the customer service experience .and I will re-iterate at a cost that doesn’t reflect value for money…

Hi AOTG…
Interesting point……I’m sure it was the Welsh game when I witnessed the disembarkation carry-on…From train door to temporary wooden boarding the platform could only have been 6ft wide….And when the doors opened ,an immediate bottleneck was created…to be fair I can’t remember what time I passed through, I had just arrived back from YVR and Mr. Jetlag was still milling about…

In relation to losing your ticket it is good to know that there are some that are not all jobs worth, and in fact it is probably the minority of Scotrail staff that do act like that..

MartinJ….totally agree with you…How many of our international airports have true mainline connectivity? ….within the terminal complex…?

On to the East Coast lounge at kings Cross…Has it recently been refurbished? …because my experience of it, once I found it. Was less than satisfactory!!

[AllOverTheGaff]

canucklad – 01/05/2013 15:27 GMT
On to the East Coast lounge at kings Cross…Has it recently been refurbished? …because my experience of it, once I found it. Was less than satisfactory!!

Erm, I guess it has been redone, it is fairly modern anyway. Every time I am in it the place is all but empty. Nice seats, selection of tea/coffee drinks (I think there might be only soft drinks though) and plenty of power outlets and wifi.

In fairness, I’ve only been in it twice as I’m normally just straight to station and onto train.

Rgds.
AOTG.

PS Re Murrayfield – Maybe my carriage was nearer to the gate and I just whizzed on by….

[capetonianm]

Thank you Alex for that tip about Italian trains. I note that they don’t operate to and from the main stations in Milan and Rome, but that really isn’t a problem and might even be a benefit as the Centrali and Termini are swarming with beggars, thieves, and gypsies.

I will report next time I have the opportunity to use one of these services.

[BigDog.]

I often used “The Harvard Bar & Lounge” in the Grosvenor adjoining London Victoria as a lounge/meeting place when routing to LGW or the south coast. It has now been converted to a brasserie, the large sofas have gone, being replaced with individual formal chairs.
Can anyone recommend a suitable replacement lounge very close to London Victoria?

[Author]

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