Buying Tickets To Scotland
Next weekend, I’m going to Edinburgh and Glasgow and then down to Bolton to see Ipswich play.
All journeys were booked on-line in First Class and purchased using my Senior Railcard. It cost me £64.31 for the trip up using East Coast on Thursday and £57.45 for the split journey down using Virgin.
The journey down is probably cheaper, as it is effectively a typical Premium Economy journey in First Class on Saturday.
As I can now collect tickets from my local station at Dalston Junction, I was able to collect the tickets, whilst taking a constitutional walk to the pub in the evening.
Would people use the trains more, if it were easier to pick up tickets?
The East Coast Main Line’s Lightweight Catenary
I tried to get a good picture of the overhead wiring or catenary as the train went north to Newark. This was the best I got.
The East Coast Main Line’s Lightweight Catenary
Compare this picture with some I took last week of the electrification at Eccles. As the lines at Eccles are not designed for 200 kph, you can understand, why the East Coast Main Line‘s electrification is not very robust and frequently gets dragged down.
Travelling In Style
I travelled up to Newark for Lincoln in First Class in one of East Coast’s Inter City 225 trains.
I’ve head a rumour that in a few years time, we’ll be seeing these units working from Liverpool Street to Norwich and Ipswich.
Yet again East Anglia will get a hand me down, but what a high class one!
They are so much roomier and more comfortable than the Pendelinos used by Virgin on the West Coast Main Line.
I doubt though, the lines to Norwich will allow these trains to reach there full speed of 200 kph.
Grand Central Up And East Coast Down
I went up to York on Grand Central in First and came back down in Second on East Coast.
As you can see, both trains were forty-year-old InterCity 125s.
First Class on Grand Central might have been affordable at £49.50 and it was a convenient train in that it got there just before the museum opened, but it was a very poor offering. I got an uncomfortable seat with a narrow table in a group of four and the only refreshment I had was two cups of tea.
Coming back I’d booked an open Off Peak ticket at £32.00, so I could come back at a convenient time.
I managed to get a more comfortable window seat in a group of four, with a bigger table than I had on the way up. The train seemed to be fairly newly refurbished and was probably in better condition, than it had been in all of its long life. The trolley came through twice and I bought just a bottle of water.
Both trains were on time.
It is interesting to compare these two journeys with the Copenhagen to Hamburg trip I did recently in a diesel German ICE TD.
I was in First on the German train and the seat was marginally more comfortable, than that of the seat in Second on my journey home yesterday. I also had a bigger table. But the ride was no better on the newer German train, which incidentally tilts, and there was nothing to choose between the views through the wide windows on both trains.
But the real problem on the German train, was the total lack of a decent drinks service. The trolley on East Coast was much better. But I have feeling that the layout of German ICE trains effectively rules out a trolley. food on all three journeys didn’t include anything that was gluten-free, but that is coming if my taste of Virgin is anything to go by.
I doubt I’ll be travelling on Grand Central again, and certainly never in First. Unless I have no choice!
The Hitchin Flyover Takes Shape
On my trip to Burnley today, I got my first look at the Hitchin Flyover.
It is a stylish structure and looks to be almost conplete.
To Burnley To See Ipswich
I went to Burnley today to see Ipswich play. I went up via Leeds, as in my opinion, First Class on East Coast is so much better than the offering on Virgin Trains.
I also didn’t suffer any delays, but apparently some Ipswich supporters, who took the Manchester route, got to the match at around half-time.
The Anonymous Widower 