by Station Aficionado
(Note: Mr. Benton, if this is not the appropriate place to post this, please move it to the appropriate forum).
Thought I'd put up a post or two regarding my recent trip to the UK. To begin with, a couple of notes re tickets and fares. A couple of days before I left, I made an important discovery about a key difference between a Eurail pass and a Britrail pass. In the US, you can purchase a Eurail pass "on the spot" from a travel agent or other vendor. Thus, you can buy one the day you leave. A Britrail pass, however, must be "ordered" a few days in advance. As a result, I was unable to purchase a Britrail pass before we left. That, however, was a blessing in disguise. We (a family of three) were able to purchase point-to-point tickets for four days of intercity travel (three of those days--the three longest journeys--in first class) for less than the cost of a four-day Britrail standard class flexi-pass. In fact, for two of the legs, the first class tickets were cheaper than standard class fare on the same train. I also note that we were generally able to find cheaper fares through the individual rail companies (even if it was for another company's service) than through the National Rail website (a sort of clearing house for travel on the various train operating companies). Ok, enough about tickets. Now, on to the trips.
Let me preface this by saying that I am not a "trainspotter." Instead, I'm a train rider, with a special interest in stations. So, I'm not going to have much to say about unit numbers, carriage classification, etc. Our first trip was London Euston to Liverpool on Virgin Trains. As those of you who know a bit about British rail history are aware, the original Euston station was demolished in the mid-60's and replace with an architecturally undistinguised--to put it mildly--concrete box. It is a very busy commuter and intercity station, with what appear to be wholly inadequate waiting facitilies for most passengers. We, however, got to use the Virgin first class lounge, which was very nice, and which provided free refreshments.
The train to Liverpool was a Pendolino, which made only two intermediate stops. We had a table in a first class carriage. It was quite comfortable, and we received complimentary (though not very tasty) meal service. I found the train's ride quality similar to the better parts of the NEC--not the smooth-as-glass ride I understand one gets on the TGV, but much better than a typical bumpy ride on Amtrak. The train arrived Liverpool on time. Liverpool Lime Street is, for a big city English station, a little on the small side--about 10 tracks, I think. The historical facade of the station is preserved, though most of the headhouse is in non-rail use. It has an interesting curved train shed.
A couple other notes about the journey. After what seemed a quick trip through the north London suburbs, we were quickly out in the scenic (in the pleasing and pretty sense, not the spectacular) English countryside. I did not realize how much of England was still rural and agricultural. My Lord, but there are a lot of sheep in that country! The Virgin train had nice large windows through which to watch the passing scenery.
I noted some, but not a lot, of freight activity. This consisted of containers on flatcars and what appeared to be some sort of hopper car. I did not see a single boxcar during our entire time in the UK. Am I correct in assuming that such are extinct on that side of the pond?
Well, that's enough for this post. If this sort of impressionistic posting is of interest to anyone (and if this is the proper forum), I'll be happy to report on our other journeys (Liverpool-York-Scotland, Edinburgh-Carlisle-London and a London-Cambridge daytrip).
Thought I'd put up a post or two regarding my recent trip to the UK. To begin with, a couple of notes re tickets and fares. A couple of days before I left, I made an important discovery about a key difference between a Eurail pass and a Britrail pass. In the US, you can purchase a Eurail pass "on the spot" from a travel agent or other vendor. Thus, you can buy one the day you leave. A Britrail pass, however, must be "ordered" a few days in advance. As a result, I was unable to purchase a Britrail pass before we left. That, however, was a blessing in disguise. We (a family of three) were able to purchase point-to-point tickets for four days of intercity travel (three of those days--the three longest journeys--in first class) for less than the cost of a four-day Britrail standard class flexi-pass. In fact, for two of the legs, the first class tickets were cheaper than standard class fare on the same train. I also note that we were generally able to find cheaper fares through the individual rail companies (even if it was for another company's service) than through the National Rail website (a sort of clearing house for travel on the various train operating companies). Ok, enough about tickets. Now, on to the trips.
Let me preface this by saying that I am not a "trainspotter." Instead, I'm a train rider, with a special interest in stations. So, I'm not going to have much to say about unit numbers, carriage classification, etc. Our first trip was London Euston to Liverpool on Virgin Trains. As those of you who know a bit about British rail history are aware, the original Euston station was demolished in the mid-60's and replace with an architecturally undistinguised--to put it mildly--concrete box. It is a very busy commuter and intercity station, with what appear to be wholly inadequate waiting facitilies for most passengers. We, however, got to use the Virgin first class lounge, which was very nice, and which provided free refreshments.
The train to Liverpool was a Pendolino, which made only two intermediate stops. We had a table in a first class carriage. It was quite comfortable, and we received complimentary (though not very tasty) meal service. I found the train's ride quality similar to the better parts of the NEC--not the smooth-as-glass ride I understand one gets on the TGV, but much better than a typical bumpy ride on Amtrak. The train arrived Liverpool on time. Liverpool Lime Street is, for a big city English station, a little on the small side--about 10 tracks, I think. The historical facade of the station is preserved, though most of the headhouse is in non-rail use. It has an interesting curved train shed.
A couple other notes about the journey. After what seemed a quick trip through the north London suburbs, we were quickly out in the scenic (in the pleasing and pretty sense, not the spectacular) English countryside. I did not realize how much of England was still rural and agricultural. My Lord, but there are a lot of sheep in that country! The Virgin train had nice large windows through which to watch the passing scenery.
I noted some, but not a lot, of freight activity. This consisted of containers on flatcars and what appeared to be some sort of hopper car. I did not see a single boxcar during our entire time in the UK. Am I correct in assuming that such are extinct on that side of the pond?
Well, that's enough for this post. If this sort of impressionistic posting is of interest to anyone (and if this is the proper forum), I'll be happy to report on our other journeys (Liverpool-York-Scotland, Edinburgh-Carlisle-London and a London-Cambridge daytrip).
