East Coast Main Line

Hugh Jarse

Hugh Jarse

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Just announced that the Virgin/Stagecoach franchise for the East Coast Main Line will once again come back under government control.

Chris Grayling has just announced in the Commons that he wants a new public/private arnership.

New (old) name will be LNER....

Paint spray time again.

Weird but when I have done the Kings X - Waverley rin the trains have been heaving and very pricy.

2 weeks back I flew to Edinburgh from Bristol - all in £84 return.

Train from Bristol to Edinburgh (Standard Class) / £372 return
(£580 First Class)

I have left out the £8 return Tram ticket from the airport.

I love train journeys but.....

WTF has gone wrong
 
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To put things into context I hate trains. Wife and I are going to Edinburgh later this year, looked into taking the train, what a nightmare. Website didnt have times as it was updating the timetable, so couldnt book a ticket even if we had wanted to.
Fares were for guidance only, still ridiculously expensive compared to air travel.
But tbh not being able to book a ticket is what put us off the most, how can you sort holiday plans without being able to confirm travel arrangements.It's no wonder they are losing money etc. Shambles.
 
Hugh Jarse said:
2 weeks back I flew to Edinburgh from Bristol - all in £84 return.

Train from Bristol to Edinburgh (Standard Class) / £372 return (£580 First Class).....

WTF has gone wrong
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WTF has gone wrong is your ability to find cheap train tickets. I just looked online and I found Bristol Temple Meads to Edinburgh, city centre to city centre, for £79.

The UK has the most expensive train fares in Europe. The UK also has the cheapest train fares in Europe. But people like to harp on about the expensive ones without recognising the cheap ones.
 
StewartR said:
WTF has gone wrong is your ability to find cheap train tickets. I just looked online and I found Bristol Temple Meads to Edinburgh, city centre to city centre, for £79.

The UK has the most expensive train fares in Europe. The UK also has the cheapest train fares in Europe. But people like to harp on about the expensive ones without recognising the cheap ones.
Click to expand...

The cheap tickets were for times which would have got me to Edinburgh too late for my meeting and I would have had to book a hotel room on top of that and need to lose a day travelling.

Still feel smug?
 
Trains come down to when you want to travel and if you can move out of peak and book in advance.

I am starting a new contract in Glasgow on Monday and just booked the train for my wife to come up on the bank holiday weekend, £59 leeds to Glasgow return.
it is all about timing.
 
I love rail travel especially East Coast, always get cheap first class tickets for days out and short breaks.
Book in advance or even better when they have a sale, shame they stopped, the loyalty points scheme though

Eurostar is even better, London to any station in Belgium 39 quid each way, only 59 to Dusseldorf or Cologne.
Booked a trip to Paris for 58 quid return, fast, plenty of luggage space and only need to be there 30 minutes before departure.
 
Mr Bump said:
Trains come down to when you want to travel and if you can move out of peak and book in advance.

I am starting a new contract in Glasgow on Monday and just booked the train for my wife to come up on the bank holiday weekend, £59 leeds to Glasgow return.
it is all about timing.
Click to expand...

I agree

For £84 I got flights to and from Edinburgh by booking 8 days in advance. Thank you Easyjet.

I had checked advance rail tickets first, which would have got me to my meeting which was close to Waverley but returning was not the best. Best price was as listed. If it had worked out I would have used the train.

As said I enjoy rail journeys but gave up looking. I even thought about playing the multiple single ticket path but gave up. How many millions of ticket fare options does the booking system hold?
 
The price you quoted for Bristol to Edinburgh isn't an overly fair comparison given it's priced by Crosscountry trains - at least in the context of this conversation about Virgin East Coast.

It is ridiculous tho as a price goes! I always think peak fares on walk up are so much because in alot of instances it'll be claimed back on expenses and the company probably won't care.
 
Hugh Jarse said:
New (old) name will be LNER....
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Perhaps they can re-introduce some class A3 and A4 locomotives to the line, if any of them currently have mainline certification.
 
onomatopoeia said:
Perhaps they can re-introduce some class A3 and A4 locomotives to the line, if any of them currently have mainline certification.
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I think a couple of A4s are Bittern/Union of South AfricanM?) Mallard may never be rebuilt (unless I win the lottery!)

The Flying Scotsman and The Royal Scot are mainline certified, as is Tornado, so all we need is another 500 locos and the Somerset coal mines opened (my house sits over a coal mine which produced ‘wet’ coal for the LMS.....) job done!

And today in the real world.... hopefully the electrification of GWR is still ongoing...... despite the mess of Brunel’s short cuts and Temple Meads curved platforms that the arc of which is a problem for the new hybrid train sets that are parked up at Eastleigh

Edit: Does the Sir Nigel Greeley A4 still run on the Mainline?
 
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Tornado's broke at the moment too after it's middle cylinder valve gear failed catastrophically last month.
 
Will it mean the return of the good ol' BR sandwich jokes and the £1 AwayDay tickets?

Speaking as a closet trainspotter, I still think the corporate blue/grey livery with the 2-way arrow logo was the best colour/design.
 
Ian D J said:
Will it mean the return of the good ol' BR sandwich jokes and the £1 AwayDay tickets?

Speaking as a closet trainspotter, I still think the corporate blue/grey livery with the 2-way arrow logo was the best colour/design.
Click to expand...

My memories go back to the late 50s/Early 60s when we made regular trips each year to Dublin. Steam Boat Train from Euston to Holyhead. 15 minute stop at Crewe saw my father diving into the buffet/bar for a couple of pints then an armful of small cans of Guinness and a pile of manky damp sandwiches.

Into the 60s and the Boat Train had an Electric Engine on the ffront (same old carriages with the compartments). This time the stop at Crewe saw the Electric loco swapped for a steam engine for the run to Holyhead. Took slightly longer so the old ma got an extra pint in, same crap sandwiches though. Thfy must have used a plane to shave the cheese!

Sad bit - the Crewe yards were filling up with the Steam Engines going for scrap [emoji853]

At the time it was progress but looking back at the memories of those sidings snd visits to Barry Island years later, it was strange to feel we had witnessed a slaughter of ‘living’ beings. I did not get that feeling when the Diesels went for disposal yet some of them were fantastic and beautiful but fid not ‘live’. That said, I thought differently years later standing next to a Class 55 Deltic as it was started and idled till it has warmed and pulled

Yes, I am a sad old traispotter

53F648B0-F640-45F3-9B58-AF183C07453E.jpg

From my local preservation railway at Midsomer Norton (originally part of the Somerset and Dorset railway). The engine was a visitor delivered by road!
 
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