first time ever on a train

[Flooble]

CAPP0 said:

Not that I don't believe you, but I'm having difficulty comprehending how bad the northern ones can be!

I have done both and the Northern Rail really are worse.

The carriages are utterly filthy, they have the same 3 + 2 seat layout to cram as many people in as possible, however, if you are lucky enough to get a seat the springs have gone so you are balanced on what's left of the supports. The trains are at least thirty or forty years old and don't appear to have had any maintenance in that time.

With exposed platforms and naturally always raining, the floors are generally soaked and muddy, not just damp.

The body is mounted directly to the wheels so all the vibration runs through you - vibration white backside is a distinct risk.

The stations seem to be every mile (the 15 miles from Manchester to Warrington takes an hour).

The timetables are bizarre - two trains ten minutes apart then nothing for an hour. The doors don't open automatically, you have to grope around for the button (if no-one else presses it).

Peak time services are as packed as anything short of a handful of ones in London (the "stand at the back of the four deep queue and everyone moves one rank forward with each train") ones.

There are no displays or announcements (a vague hissing from the loudspeaker only) so you have to hope you can guess where you are or your phone can get a signal.

I'm sure I can think of some other negatives but all in all, they are dire.

[blueST]

Northern rail really are horrendous. I sometimes commute into Manchester from Rochdale or the other way to Leeds. Aincient, dirty knackered old diesel rolling stock, that shake rattles and rolls it's way at snails pace. Rush hour is a nightmare, I always feel sorry for the people at Mills Hill who can't get on because it's already full when it leaves Rochdale. Just miserable.

[thismonkeyhere]

blueg33 said:

it's an ancient, filthy, rattling 2 carriage Pacer

There are still Pacers?!??

They were st when they were new! (30+ years ago, I think....)

[MitchT]

vanordinaire said:

Has anyone else been pleasantly surprised by a train?

Yes, when an express went through my local station and the air turbulence blew up the skirt of a young woman on the platform

[blueg33]

thismonkeyhere said:

blueg33 said:

it's an ancient, filthy, rattling 2 carriage Pacer

There are still Pacers?!??

They were st when they were new! (30+ years ago, I think....)

Yup hateful effing things, did my penance on one this morning as per every Tuesday



This one is unusually clean inside

[Krikkit]

thismonkeyhere said:

blueg33 said:

it's an ancient, filthy, rattling 2 carriage Pacer

There are still Pacers?!??

They were st when they were new! (30+ years ago, I think....)

Yep, and they're used by a lot of Northern Rail services.

The trains which were finished with other companies in the 90s feel incredibly modern by comparison.

[Vocal Minority]

I do love a train.

Longer than getting into work by car, but not so much longer - and when you factor in parking it's damn near half the cost.

Also, unless I need my car at the other end, I will always travel by train between major cities.

[Munter]

vanordinaire said:

relaxing journey (

Relaxing?

Got to get a taxi, will it turn up on time, will it get me to the station in time, will they have change, will they have receipts, will the ticket machine work, will my train arrive on time, will I get a seat, is this actually the right train going the right place, will I make my connection, can I get a taxi at the other end, will the taxi driver know where they are going?

VS

Allow 15 mins extra for every hour google says. Get in car. Drive. Change route as required to avoid traffic. Park at destination.

Train travel is nothing but stress. There are very few activities I find more stressful.

[Vocal Minority]

You worry too much!

[blueg33]

Munter said:

vanordinaire said:

relaxing journey (

Relaxing?

Got to get a taxi, will it turn up on time, will it get me to the station in time, will they have change, will they have receipts, will the ticket machine work, will my train arrive on time, will I get a seat, is this actually the right train going the right place, will I make my connection, can I get a taxi at the other end, will the taxi driver know where they are going?

VS

Allow 15 mins extra for every hour google says. Get in car. Drive. Change route as required to avoid traffic. Park at destination.

Train travel is nothing but stress. There are very few activities I find more stressful.

Diagree

Driving to Manchester from Cheltenham

how long will the lights at Ashchurch delay me for 5 mins or 30 mins?
will the M6 be stationary, closed or just full of nose to tail trucks
how many people will emergency brake for every speed camera in the variable limit on the M6
its pissing it down, visibility is st and that artic is 6 inches off my bumper
only 30 miles of 50mph speed limit today
how stationary will the traffic be at Holmes Chapel junction?
will the trucks actually leave enough space between them for me to exit at my junction
Bugger I can only park for an hour in Altincham but need to be here all day, unless I pay £12 for the car park
If I stop for breakfast I'll hit worse queues

work pay me 45p per mile for the car but pay all of the train fare, so I subsidise travel if I drive
will be late circa 50% of the time

Or Train

Park at Birmingham international (nice large carpark) £9.00
step onto train (first class)
get served breakfast
read my book
reply to a few emails
step off train at Stockport, wait 6 minutes for my connection just 1 platform away
15 minutes (standing on a smelly rattler)
get off train at Altrincham
5 minute stroll to the office

Full cost picked up by work. Have only been late 2 in 50 times

[FiF]

blueg33 said:

thismonkeyhere said:

blueg33 said:

it's an ancient, filthy, rattling 2 carriage Pacer

There are still Pacers?!??

They were st when they were new! (30+ years ago, I think....)

Yup hateful effing things, did my penance on one this morning as per every Tuesday



This one is unusually clean inside

Tbh even the class 124 DMUs that went onto the Liverpool to Hull service in 1961 felt better than those things.

[0000]

blueg33 said:

Diagree

Driving to Manchester from Cheltenham

Ah, I think I know where you're going wrong.

[FiF]

blueg33 said:

Munter said:

vanordinaire said:

relaxing journey (

Relaxing?

Got to get a taxi, will it turn up on time, will it get me to the station in time, will they have change, will they have receipts, will the ticket machine work, will my train arrive on time, will I get a seat, is this actually the right train going the right place, will I make my connection, can I get a taxi at the other end, will the taxi driver know where they are going?

VS

Allow 15 mins extra for every hour google says. Get in car. Drive. Change route as required to avoid traffic. Park at destination.

Train travel is nothing but stress. There are very few activities I find more stressful.

Diagree

Driving to Manchester from Cheltenham

how long will the lights at Ashchurch delay me for 5 mins or 30 mins?
will the M6 be stationary, closed or just full of nose to tail trucks
how many people will emergency brake for every speed camera in the variable limit on the M6
its pissing it down, visibility is st and that artic is 6 inches off my bumper
only 30 miles of 50mph speed limit today
how stationary will the traffic be at Holmes Chapel junction?
will the trucks actually leave enough space between them for me to exit at my junction
Bugger I can only park for an hour in Altincham but need to be here all day, unless I pay £12 for the car park
If I stop for breakfast I'll hit worse queues

work pay me 45p per mile for the car but pay all of the train fare, so I subsidise travel if I drive
will be late circa 50% of the time

Or Train

Park at Birmingham international (nice large carpark) £9.00
step onto train (first class)
get served breakfast
read my book
reply to a few emails
step off train at Stockport, wait 6 minutes for my connection just 1 platform away
15 minutes (standing on a smelly rattler)
get off train at Altrincham
5 minute stroll to the office

Full cost picked up by work. Have only been late 2 in 50 times

Just to stick my nose in for a minute.

The second option doesn't include the shambles that is frequently the M5, especially through the works and average cams section, nor the M42 stop-start malarkey.

Why not train from Cheltenham Spa to Altrincham, still only 1 change at Stockport.

Unless you mean another Cheltenham from the one currently viewing out of the window.

[J4CKO]

Trains are ace, its the public that can ruin it, and its generally only a small proportion.

Some people are just fking animals that have no place in society.

[hairyben]

trains can be a great way of getting from/in to city centres, have used the east coast london-edinburgh a few times which is no less quick once you allow for all the getting to/from/queueing/security/stress etc of airports, but a lot less faff.. wander on.. sit and relax, watch the countryside.. coming back get a few tins of beer from M+S, play some cards... All depends on the route, time of day, if you have freedom with travel times the cheaper tickets tend to be for less busy trains etc so double win, thereagain someone else commuting the same line during rush hour probably regards it as hell on earth.

[blueg33]

FiF said:

Just to stick my nose in for a minute.

The second option doesn't include the shambles that is frequently the M5, especially through the works and average cams section, nor the M42 stop-start malarkey.

Why not train from Cheltenham Spa to Altrincham, still only 1 change at Stockport.

Unless you mean another Cheltenham from the one currently viewing out of the window.

I have to be I. Altrincham by 9am, earliest i can get there from Cheltenham is 10am. I live near Broadway rather than Cheltenham so it's A46 to A435 and M42. Easy early morning and bearable on the way home.

[FiF]

blueg33 said:

I have to be I. Altrincham by 9am, earliest i can get there from Cheltenham is 10am. I live near Broadway rather than Cheltenham so it's A46 to A435 and M42. Easy early morning and bearable on the way home.

OK, fair enough, not near Cheltenham St all then. Plus you must be talking about another Ashchurch as opposed to the one near the M5 that's just above Cheltenham. How to confuse the issue in one post.

[blueg33]

If i go up the m5 I go through Ashchurch go j9. I only go that way if driving to mAnchester. Don't need to go via M5 to drive to the station.

[rs1952]

FiF said:

blueg33 said:

I have to be I. Altrincham by 9am, earliest i can get there from Cheltenham is 10am. I live near Broadway rather than Cheltenham so it's A46 to A435 and M42. Easy early morning and bearable on the way home.

OK, fair enough, not near Cheltenham St all then. Plus you must be talking about another Ashchurch as opposed to the one near the M5 that's just above Cheltenham. How to confuse the issue in one post.

But if driving, wouldn't you be better off heading for M42 J3 anyway and turning westbound rather than eastbound? Going from Broadway to Ashchurch to pick up the M5 seems like going out of your way.

All the other arguments against driving still stand, of course

[blueg33]

No. M5 is quicker if driving to the north west.