Travelling To Stansted and Gatwick Compared
In my trip to Majorca, I booked out via Stansted and back via Gatwick. So how did the routes to the two airports compare?
Stansted is easier at present, than it will be in a few months, as the 21 and141 buses actually stop at Liverpool Street station because of the diversions for Crossrail. So I just get the bus and walk the twenty metres or so to the station. In fact on Sunday, as the diversion wasn’t being announced or I missed it, I actually walked from Moorgate, which wasn’t too bad.
One at the station I just got a train direct to the airport at a cost f 14.85 with my Senior Railcard.
A Personal Train
As the picture shows, at seven on a Sunday morning, I got a personal train.
Coming back into Gatwick, I just walked to the station and one of the staff there, said that as I had a Freedom Pass, I just needed to buy a ticket to East Croydon. It was just £3.25.
I came back via Clapham Junction station, where I changed to the Overground to Dalston Junction station.
It was all very easy, but it is probably a bit slower than going to or coming from Stansted. But only by a few minutes.
I did waste some time at Gatwick trying to locate my train and an information board like London Bridge, where all stations are indicated with the next train, time and platform, wouldn’t be a bad idea. One guy told me that it is in hand.
I suppose too, that I could have gone to Victoria and then got a tube, which might have been quicker. But then the Overground is so much easier and if you have a heavy case, it’s all step-free transfers.
So hopefully it’ll all get better.
I’ve Got The Sun But No Plumbing
I must be the only person, who when they book a 4* hotel always seems to get a problem.
This time it’s the plumbing. The bath and/or the shower is unusable and because it’s Sunday, there is nothing that the staff in the Palacio Avenida can do. They could have offered to move me to another room, but they didn’t make the offer and as the room is otherwise comfortable and convenient, I didn’t think to push it at the time.
We’ll see what happens tomorrow.
But as my bath is at the moment being replaced at home and the showers aren’t top-notch, I thought that a few days away would be a relief not more trouble.
First Class to Leeds
I travelled in First Class to Leeds yesterday. I do get more and more fed up with the standard of the class on Saturdays.
I paid about thirty pounds more for a comfy seat, a table and two cups of coffee each way. My fellow travellers also got some rather boring-looking sandwiches both ways.
But I suspect, judging by the number of empty seats and those on Virgin a couple of weeks ago, the train companies First Class offerings on Saturday, are not the hottest product.
At least that on First Hull Trains is better! But on the other hand, it didn’t seem to sell many seats.
It strikes me though, that the train companies need to do a bit of thinking about their First Class product. And whilst they’re at it, they could look at their gluten-free offerings too!
Inciodentally, I had breakfast in Carluccio’s before I travelled and got some sandwiches from Marks and Spencer in Leeds station. I also noted that Leon’s restaurant had some good gluten-free breakfast offerings.
So some things are getting better, but the trains aren’t keeping up with the competition. Although you could argue, that the presence of Leon’s and Carluccio’s in stations, is down to policy changes at Network Rail.
America, The Sick Man Of The World
Two of the stories I posted yesterday, showed the state the US is in. The first was the story of prisons in the US, and Alabama in particular. I started it with the words.
This story from the United States is terrible.
I felt it couldn’t get worse. But it course of did with the massacre of children in Connecticut.
The story of Gary McKinnon was really about America bullying a poor unfortunate, rather than fixing their leaky computer systems and treating him in the way he would have been in most other countries of the world.
We have also had the excursions into Afghanistan and Iraq, to wreak vengeance for the attacks on New York and Washington on September 11th, 2009. Sadly we were drawn into these ill-thought out adventures.
It’s funny too, how the three main companies being castigated for their tax position are all American.
I could also add in the stunts of bankers based in New York, which started the collapse of the worldwide banking system, the death penalty and the failed prison and justice system and a healthcare system that is the joke of the civilised world.
I shall not be going to the United States ever again and I will not buy products from American companies, where there is an alternative.
Richard Morrison On The Overground
Richard Morrison in The Times today has an interesting article on the London Overground. He did a complete circle and wrote about it. I particularly liked this bit.
It’s now possible to make a complete orbit of Outer London by rail. And I have rarely spent a more magical 80 minutes. Well, not on a train, anyway. In sleek air-conditioned carriages, you glide over wharfs and warehouses, dodge between highrises and shimmy past Victorian terraces, trendy penthouses, suburban semis, chic lofts, overgrown gardens and neat allotments. It’s like looking at the capital through the back door.
So if you can get hold of a copy of the Times 2 section today, have a good look at what he says.
You might decide to take a trip to Peckham! A doctor told me that the views from the multi-story car park by Peckham Rye station are spectacular.
London Moves To Licence Pedicabs
I have seen some horrific incidents with pedicabs and according to this report, it would appear that the Mayor and Transport for London are moving towards licencing them and driving the illegal ones off the road.
Having seen at first hand, how they contribute to jams in the West End, I think it’s about time too! Although, I’ve never ridden in one in this country.
A Plea For Peckham Rye
Tristram Hunt wrote a thoughtful article for the Standard yesterday about Peckham Rye station. He says this of the station.
Sadly, British Rail didn’t care for this station as it should have done. Its features rotted and beauty ebbed. The Old Waiting Room closed and the windows were bricked up.
It’s not just Peckham Rye station, that has been treated like this.
Some have been treated badly, whilst others have even been built as eyesores or impractical buildings like Brixton. Those architects of the 1960s, who worked for British Rail and London Underground should hang their heads in shame.
The saviour for these buildings could be proper property development in conjunction with good architecture. I have seen what is proposed for some sites and liked what I have seen. Surely similar schemes should be proposed for other stations to both improve the lot of both passengers and local residents.
The Anonymous Widower 