A holiday in Scotland - Azumas, HSTs and reflections on places visited.

[whole diary]

[eightonedee]

As a slightly late celebration of a significant birthday, my wife and I took a trip to Scotland by train to explore a part I had not really covered well before, namely Perth, Dundee and Fife. We have two friends who hail from Dundee, both of whom still have family in the area, and both of whom have told us that the city centre has been transformed by recent redevelopment. Two significant maritime attractions (Discovery and HMS Unicorn), an additional recommendation to see Dunkeld, an attractive half-board offer for a Perth Hotel from a chain we’ve used before and the opportunity to try the East Coast Main Line again after over 10 years since our last trip to Scotland using it all helped plan the break. Initially I looked at Lumo, but although the price for King’s Cross to Edinburgh is attractive, by the time you add a period return from Goring & Streatley to King’s Cross, and onwards to Perth, and the additional hassle on changing for Perth, we went for LNER^» (London North Eastern Railway - about) directly to Perth on the daily down Inverness train.

Part One – LNER and Azumas^▸ (Brand name for Class 80x trains on LNER).

This was my first opportunity to try the LNER version of the (dreaded?) IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)). The first impression on boarding is favourable. Simply having a bright interior with white walls and red upholstery seems to give a much more welcoming atmosphere than the gloomy grey ambience of GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)’s offering.

As to the seats, I don’t know how much difference there is to the underlying structure of the seat, but the softer upholstery material of LNER’s seats feels more comfortable than GWR’s. The seat base still feels firm, but no evidence of that uncomfortable bar across the seat now becoming evident through the seat cushion on GWR trains that has been commented upon elsewhere in this forum. We generally felt comfortable during our near six-hour journey, although during the extended return journey (see below!) I did have a cramp requiring a stroll part-way through the return journey.

The seat reservation signage seemed to work well, with just a short delay before updating after station when a seat became available. The train was generally clean, and the upholstery seemed to be standing up well to use so far. There was some evidence of the finish to the wall finished below the windows. Having had the opportunity to chose seats on-line when booking well in advance we secured table seats with good views, but noticed that many seats still do not align elsewhere in the carriages. This is a shame on a service that runs on one of the most scenically-rewarding routes once you get past Darlington going north.

For forum members for whom on-board catering is important, the picture is mixed. We did not leave anything to chance, stocking up for lunch at Pret at King’s Cross and Costa at Perth for outward and return journeys. The Azumas have a modest snack counter in coach G, and a QR^▸ (QR Code - Quick Response code (2D bar code)) code ordering system at the seats for Standard Class. On the way up, its staff was friendly, but they were already running out of some items at Peterborough. LNER coffee also does not score well. “Almost as bad as Starbucks” was my wife’s verdict!

There was also a common problem with on-board announcements, namely that they were almost inaudible for the first part of the outward journey. Perhaps a replacement crew picked up that sound was down, as things improved after (I think) York.

All went well on the journey up to Perth, everything ran to time. On the way back it also went well until we had just passed Tursdale Junction, where the disused Leamside Line leaves the ECML^▸ (East Coast Main Line). We came to a halt, and soon the train announcements kicked in. Credit to the crew, they passed on to us what the problem was when they were informed. A train had failed ahead, leaving us third in a queue of down trains waiting for a gap in the up traffic to enable each train to get past. A subsequent announcement informed us that there were three trains to pass on the other line before we could proceed. Just as the second one passed us, a further announcement informed us that someone had managed to get the failed train moving again, so we would soon be moving again. By this time we had lost over 40 minutes. LNER’s website estimated we would make up time so as to be 28 minutes late at King’s Cross. At York, however, we were informed that we would be held as there was a train from Edinburgh that had caught us up that was to run non-stop to London, whereas we were due to stop at Doncaster, Newark and Peterborough. So we ended up 43 minutes late at King’s Cross, but at least we had an explanation and apologies every time we stopped and new passengers joined.

Finally, a comment on LNER’s apparent commitment to simplifying fares. So, why was the outward fare from Goring to Perth with Senior Card £68-25, but the return one £72-30? Was it a peak fare for the Paddington-Goring leg on the way back?

Next time, ScotRail, HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) and some thoughts on destinations and stations.

[eightonedee]

Well, I tried to upload the rest of my account, but it seems to be too large! So here's a part 2 of 3

Part Two- Impressions of Perth and its station

Perth station reflects the city’s centre. Both have clearly seen better days!

You might have seen a fine 19th century painting, now at the NRM^» (National Railway Museum, at York and Shildon - about), showing a busy bustling Perth station with a grand overall vaulted roof – see https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co226668/perth-station-coming-south. That is not the scene that greets the modern traveller disembarking from the London train on arrival at Perth.

Perth station is a muddle of extensions and additions. It is shaped like a glove, with the “thumb” being two platforms (1 and 2) serving the line to Dundee that leaves on a curve to the east, and the remaining platforms 3-7 on the rest of the “hand” with north-south lines. It appears that the original station as shown in the painting is now platforms 5 -7, with 7 used for through trains for Inverness, the other two cut short as bays for lines going south, and the northern end of the old train shed being a covered car park where through lines previously ran. Platforms 3 and 4 lie under another roof which looks like a second-hand factory roof, which appears to be a later extension, so that some fine Victorian Gothic railway buildings are hidden to the outside world. They are not well-used, just for the London-Inverness trains and a few Edinburgh-Inverness ones. Finally, filling some of the gap between the “thumb” and the main station building there is a more recent single storey building housing the ticket office, a Costa and a kiosk. One unusual feature is a proliferation of bridges in the station. From north to south, there’s a standard lattice iron footbridge linking platforms 3 and 4 under the roof, a disused one between the same platforms that has out-of-order goods lifts at either end, a more substantial bridge with steps one side and ramps the other linking all platforms with the exit under the portion between platforms 3 and 2 also under the bridge. If you want or need a lift for passengers, there’s a much newer one spanning all platforms outside the train shed to the south with modern lifts to each, but no roof over the bridge deck between the lifts like the ones us namby-pamby southerners have at places like Goring, Tilehurst, Oxford or Newbury…. Pity the poor wheelchair bound passenger using it on a cold, wet Scottish winter day.

Although it has prosperous looking suburbs and busy trading estates, the city centre itself is clearly struggling. There are a lot of empty shops and the not-so-old Debenhams that was clearly the city’s main department store sits empty. From the shops that are left, it seems its citizens have immaculate nails, are well-coiffured but have a serous vape habit and live off take-aways. There are though some fine old 18th and 19th century buildings, and fine municipal buildings in the shape of the city’s museum (its top-rated attraction, with the Stone of Scone and currently an exhibition centred on Mary Queen of Scots last known letter – recommended for history buffs) and a building with the library and theatre.

The city is a good base for exploring the wider area, with the added bonus of a chance to revisit the experience of travel by HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)). More to follow…

[eightonedee]

...and here (hopefully) is part three!

Part three - Dunkeld, Dundee and travel by ScotRail

We had a pleasant half day excursion to Dunkeld, taking the train as it’s the first stop on the Inverness line. It’s a pretty, tidy small town (or rather two, as Birnam, of Hamlet’s wood fame, comprises part) in a fine location by the banks of the Tay. Its partly ruined cathedral is the highlight. It was once the centre of Christianity in Scotland, but suffered after the Reformation and during a battle with Jacobites in 1689. The exterior is behind barriers, as is the entirety of the Nave for safety reasons. Even in the choir, retained as the parish church, the walls visibly lean outwards.

Dunkeld’s station (strictly Dunkeld and Birnam) is on a passing loop. It has recently been renovated with resurfaced platforms, rather mean-sized bus shelter style shelters on each platform and a plaque recording that John Swinney formally re-opened it when the works were completed. It’s a bit of a shame that the fine retained old station building was not refurbished for use at that time.

The following day we visited Dundee. The station is on the waterfront in the middle of an area that has clearly benefited from much investment in regeneration in recent years. There are blocks of new flats, new offices and tourist attractions including Discovery Point adjacent to the ship and its dock with a fine museum of Antarctic exploration, HMS Unicorn that claims to be one of the oldest almost complete ships still afloat in another of the remaining docks and the V&A Dundee on the waterfront. We did not have time for the latter, as we went to the municipal museum which has a family connection to one of our friends instead.

Dundee’s station has also been modernised, giving a favourable impression to passengers arriving there, and it lies a short step away from both Discovery Point and the V&A. It is a credit to the city and ScotRail.

As for our trains, all ran to time. It was a bonus that three out of four journeys, the outward one to Dunkeld and both to and from Dundee were on HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)). These are reduced sets, with just four coaches between the power cars, and are branded “inter7city” by ScotRail. The interior refresh on each train still looked good and well-cared for, the only aspect possibly showing the age of the underlying trains was a noticeable amount of creaking and rattles from the trim. The outward journeys to Dunkeld and Dundee (both at about 10 am) were lightly loaded, but the return from Dunkeld, a stopping service comprising a 3-car 170 and 2-car 158 was busy, as was the return from Dundee. The latter was clearly a commuter train between Perth and Dundee, as many joined us leaving at Perth.

If you want your last real regular scheduled service HST ride, Scotland is where you should go.
 

[eightonedee]

And here's one of our old stalwarts at Perth