Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 13:15 28 Mar 2024
- How do I renew my UK passport and what is the 10-year rule?
* Man held over stabbing in front of train passengers
- Easter travel warning as millions set to hit roads
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]
 02/06/24 - Summer Timetable starts
17/08/24 - Bus to Imber
27/09/25 - 200 years of passenger trains

On this day
28th Mar (1988)
Woman found murdered on Orpington to London train (*)

Train RunningCancelled
11:16 London Paddington to Cardiff Central
11:23 Weston-Super-Mare to London Paddington
11:50 Cardiff Central to London Paddington
12:15 London Paddington to Cardiff Central
12:30 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare
13:00 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington
13:15 Swindon to Westbury
13:26 Weston-Super-Mare to London Paddington
13:30 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads
14:19 Westbury to Swindon
15:14 Swindon to Westbury
Short Run
08:03 London Paddington to Penzance
10:35 London Paddington to Exeter St Davids
10:55 Paignton to London Paddington
11:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
11:48 London Paddington to Carmarthen
12:03 London Paddington to Penzance
12:12 Salisbury to Bristol Temple Meads
12:32 Exeter Central to Okehampton
12:42 Bristol Temple Meads to Salisbury
12:46 Avonmouth to Weston-Super-Mare
13:03 London Paddington to Plymouth
13:07 Salisbury to Bristol Temple Meads
13:10 Gloucester to Weymouth
13:26 Okehampton to Exeter Central
14:05 Salisbury to Bristol Temple Meads
16:19 Carmarthen to London Paddington
Delayed
09:37 London Paddington to Paignton
10:04 London Paddington to Penzance
10:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
11:29 Weymouth to Gloucester
11:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
12:27 Okehampton to Exeter Central
12:28 Plymouth to Gunnislake
12:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
14:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
PollsOpen and recent polls
Closed 2024-03-25 Easter Escape - to where?
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple MeadsBath SpaChippenhamSwindonDidcot ParkwayReadingLondon PaddingtonMelksham
Exeter St DavidsTauntonWestburyTrowbridgeBristol ParkwayCardiff CentralOxfordCheltenham SpaBirmingham New Street
March 28, 2024, 13:21:06 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[151] West Wiltshire Bus Changes April 2024
[85] would you like your own LIVE train station departure board?
[58] Return of the BRUTE?
[49] If not HS2 to Manchester, how will traffic be carried?
[46] Infrastructure problems in Thames Valley causing disruption el...
[36] Reversing Beeching - bring heritage and freight lines into the...
 
News: A forum for passengers ... with input from rail professionals welcomed too
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: [1]
  Print  
Author Topic: Travelogue observations and summary - to home, 11th October 2019  (Read 2927 times)
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40690



View Profile WWW Email
« on: October 12, 2019, 13:24:44 »

I am looking forward to a few days at home!

My final trip of six weeks of nearly continuous long distance travel – from a course finishing at lunchtime on Thursday in a 'burb of Dublin to the GWR (Great Western Railway) Stakeholder meeting at Paddington on Friday and home (Melksham, Wiltshire) at the end of the day.

Reasonably proud of my green credentials - just five 'legs' as lifts in private cars, totalling perhaps 10 miles out of what I estimate as not far short or 12,000 miles, and not a single airline flight. Buses, coaches, trams, ships, tenders, trains, shank's pony and (just) four taxis for horizontal journeys. Staircases, slopes, escalators and lifts for vertical ones.



I didn't fancy catching the boat after my Dublin course and connecting straight into the train at Holyhead - an arrival at 01:19 into London is simply too late for me these days, bearing in mind my now-limited endurance.

I didn't fancy waiting in Dublin until the late boat, for that would leave me with a three hour wait during the night in Holyhead.

I did fancy catching the afternoon boat, grabbing a hotel in Holyhead or somewhere a bit along the way (Bangor or Llandudno Junction perhaps) and carrying on the next morning, but SailRail does not allow a break of journey, and that break of journey would have tripled the travel price, even before I added the cost of the hotel.   I didn't fancy that extra - and as I'm on fixed expenses from the Dublin course, it would have come out of my own pocket.

Solution?   The Enterprise train from Dublin (Connelly) to Belfast at just under 18 Euros, the Stena ferry overnight from Belfast to Birkenhead for £5, £2 for Hamilton Square to Lime Street, and £47 Lime Street to Euston.  Walked (and it turned out to be a long walk!) Lanyon Place, Belfast to the Stena terminal.  Final bit on the 205 bus to Paddington - Oyster (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) / didn't look at charge.

Took a cabin on the boat (cheaper by far than a hotel would have been) and got a full night's sleep.

The Liverpool to London advance fare was even First Class, and as it was Virgin Trains, breakfast included.

There was discussion in another thread about business people using long distance overnight sleeper trains in Mainland Europe to get between locations of meetings overnight - and when you look at the above, that's really what I was doing with the ferry. Interesting to consider how far "out of my way" I went to catch a conveyance I could get an uninterrupted night on.  And I know I am not unique even amongst members here.



And so, after the conference, home.  The 17:15 (Carmarthen) train is a peak train but seemed to have far from peak loads on it. 2 x 5 cars, catering came through several times. Perhaps it was quiet because it was Friday (POETS (As in "Poets day". Friday. (Push Off Early - Tomorrow's Saturday).) day).  Arrived early / station holds at stops along the way; an electric train to diesel timings for another 60 days.

Departure boards at Swindon showing am 18:16 to Frome, with no platform.  New one on me; enquiry at the desk of GWR tells me it's an extra, special, and will be stopping at Melksham.  Hmmm - if a story sound too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true.  So back to platform 4 and, yes, the staff member there tells me it will be stopping at Melksham.  However, it flashes up on the departure board as "Westbury and Frome" with no mention of the three intermediate stations and when it arrives (an IET (Intercity Express Train)) I check with the train manager who assures me it will NOT be stopping at Melksham.  From his mannerism, I suspect I was classified as "stupid passenger" for even asking!   Back under the subway for the 18:48.

A queue of trains for the single line from Chippenham when we got there.  One train showing on the single track on open train times, one waiting at Thingley, and ourselves in the platform.  By the time everything cleared, 20 minutes late into Melksham - the latest running of any piece of transport I've used right across the last six weeks.  Logging that as a fact and not a grumble; glad to be home, what's the occasional 20 minutes, and so thankful that we are connected to the rail network here.  But reliability does need prime attention; noticing a reduction in car park use as people who have the option move to using stations where cancellations are the exception and not the norm.

Some images of the last phase of the journey for you ...























« Last Edit: October 12, 2019, 13:39:09 by grahame » Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: [1]
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules (email link to report). Forum hosted by Well House Consultants

Jump to top of pageJump to Forum Home Page