Trains: They're not as bad as people make out...
Discussion
After completing my long awaited engine conversion this weekend, I was looking forward to a 300 mile blast from cornwall to Birmingham and planned to leave quite late to make sure I had a good clear run.
Unfortunately, when I woke this morning and drove to get fuel, I realised my brake pads were shot...
Upon returning home, avec le brake pads, I found one of my calipers were seized
With the deadline for getting myself to Birmingham looming, I had no choice but to get the company to book me a train ticket..... I hate trains.
I've hated them for as long as I can remember, I hate being crowded, being bored and just sitting and waiting to get where I need to be...
Anyway, train ticket booked (18.30 departure to miss busy times) I got to the station to collect my ticket...
Yes, that is £121.50 for a one way ticket, the same distance in my car would cost maybe £50...
But...
I do have a whole carriage (and a choice of 60 seats) to myself.... I chose a window seat with a table and a plug for my phone..
And I'm also managing to partake in 3 of my favourite things, music, reading Evo magazine and......
Drinking
Also, Mrs H hid this in my bag to remind me that I was ditching her on Valentines day...
(Awwwwwww)
So yeah, the experience isn't actually that bad.
P.S, I'm bored now, 2 hours left. I'd kill to be blasting along the M5 with the roof down
Unfortunately, when I woke this morning and drove to get fuel, I realised my brake pads were shot...
Upon returning home, avec le brake pads, I found one of my calipers were seized
With the deadline for getting myself to Birmingham looming, I had no choice but to get the company to book me a train ticket..... I hate trains.
I've hated them for as long as I can remember, I hate being crowded, being bored and just sitting and waiting to get where I need to be...
Anyway, train ticket booked (18.30 departure to miss busy times) I got to the station to collect my ticket...
Yes, that is £121.50 for a one way ticket, the same distance in my car would cost maybe £50...
But...
I do have a whole carriage (and a choice of 60 seats) to myself.... I chose a window seat with a table and a plug for my phone..
And I'm also managing to partake in 3 of my favourite things, music, reading Evo magazine and......
Drinking
Also, Mrs H hid this in my bag to remind me that I was ditching her on Valentines day...
(Awwwwwww)
So yeah, the experience isn't actually that bad.
P.S, I'm bored now, 2 hours left. I'd kill to be blasting along the M5 with the roof down
Cross Country Trains on that route are normally filthy. I once found a used sanitary towel squashed behind the fold up table. At most times they are over crowded, seat reservations dont work, and are normally late. I use the line at least 50 times a year from Cheltenham to Manchester.
Cor, that was a bit weird, came into bristol parkway pointing one way and left facing another.
Next stop is cheltenham spa in an hour if anyone is hopping on and fancies a beer and a read of the 'run a car for a year depreciation free' section of evo mag.
Go on, you know you want to....
Next stop is cheltenham spa in an hour if anyone is hopping on and fancies a beer and a read of the 'run a car for a year depreciation free' section of evo mag.
Go on, you know you want to....
So you're actually able to consume booze then? Nice nice. Can't recall last time i've been on the train, perhaps back in 2002. Didn't mind them that much actually, silly fair pricing aside. Tend to get ya there pretty fast providing there's no delays and the like. Much prefer to drive, like majority here would say
Trains ain't too bad in many ways. Going to Londinium from where I am is about 50mins on the train, and 2-3 hours in the car in rush hour, but it is pretty packed on the train. Sitting / standing in a packed train for 50mins is far better for my blood pressure than sitting in a queue to central London from the Farnborough junction of the M3 (on a good day, sometimes further south).
Just did a trip from Paris to the Bourg St Maurice in the French Alps by TGV and a mountain chugger - and it was quite nice actually, rattling thru the scenery without having to concern myself with the suicide jockeys on French roads.
Having said that, I have a trip to Liverpool on Wednesday and a trip to Manchester on Friday from darkest Hampshire, and it is far more economical to take the smallblock V8 than buy a return train ticket.
Just did a trip from Paris to the Bourg St Maurice in the French Alps by TGV and a mountain chugger - and it was quite nice actually, rattling thru the scenery without having to concern myself with the suicide jockeys on French roads.
Having said that, I have a trip to Liverpool on Wednesday and a trip to Manchester on Friday from darkest Hampshire, and it is far more economical to take the smallblock V8 than buy a return train ticket.
If you know what train you'll be getting it's usually cheaper to book an Advance Single, (as opposed to an Anytime Single, which I think your ticket shows). For example, Bodmin (just guessing) to Brum tomorrow at 7pm: Advance is £37, Anytime is £105! Sometimes Advance/Anytime are the same price, but usually not IME.
Doh, just realised work paid for it...
Doh, just realised work paid for it...
JonnyFive said:
If you book in advance, trains are bloody cheap too. I got Single to Manchester from Surrey (220 miles by road) for £18 by booking about a month before. That was when I wasn't driving though, would just take the '5 now.
Definitely. I've been down to London for less than 20 quid return, but for that money you have to book really early on. Gassing Station | Boats, Planes & Trains | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff