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.
A Steamy Morning At Kings Cross Station
I had wondered why there was a train to Norwich on the destination board at Kings Cross station.
This is the reason why.
A couple of times in the 1950s or 1960s, I went to Ipswich from London by train with a Britannia Class at the front. I wonder if I was ever hauled by Oliver Cromwell.
I am not a particular enthusiast for steam trains, but they are very much part of the world’s technological heritage. I do think it as pity though, that we didn’t save more for posterity, as the enthusiasm they generate, is something that many of us need more of. It might even inspire more students to be the future engineers, we definitely need in this country and in fact most of the world.
It is also amazing to see a 1950s-designed steam locomotive amongst all of the high speed electrics, at possibly the best recently refurbished station in the world.
Imagine the excitement and probable increase in tourism, if every Saturday, we could see a vintage locomotive steam out of Kings Cross. The demand is probably there, but I doubt we have enough reliable main-line steam engines to provide such a spectacle. Remember that steam locomotives are not noted for their reliability.
Kings Cross Station In The Morning
As I left Kings Cross station at around eight this morning, I got a good view of the station and the square in front, in the morning light.
The morning is always the best time.
Although, as I returned tonight, the floodlit station looked even more magnificent.
What was the train to Norwich doing in the station?
Full Function Ticketing On The Overground
As I came up the stairs at Dalston Junction station, this morning, I thought the ticket machines at the station had been updated for ticket collection.
Full Function Ticketing On The Overground
So after I’d bought my ticket to return from Sheffield on Saturday on-line, I visited the station and picked it up. Not only does the updated machine deliver on-line tickets, but you can buy a ticket to any station in the country.
A similar machine is in operation at Dalston Kingsland station, but not at Highbury and Islington station.
This development will make some of the journeys I do a lot easier, as I now have a convenient place to pick up on-line tickets.
Often big improvements can be made to travel, by doing small improvements all over the place. I suspect, this was just a software change.
Eurostar Go For The East Coast Franchise
I have noticed that Eurostar are bidding to run the trains to the North and Scotland from Kings Cross.
I do hope that if they do run it, they bring the excellent gluten-free food from their continental services.
A Crazy Day!
Yesterday was a day I won’t forget.
As I said in this post, I was having a lot of frustrations with East Midland Trains, and decided to come back by Virgin from Birmingham.
I also decided to make a day of travelling, as I had someone with an idea, to meet in Manchester, so I decided to go via Preston and then come in to Manchester from the north west.
I left on the 08:30 from Euston and my main reason to go to the city was to see Preston bus station and the city’s buses. Although, I did walk around the market and the shopping area, visit the Preston Martyrs Memorial, looking unsuccessfully for a cup of coffee. It is not a city centre of which to be proud, as I mused here.
I left around 13:00 and took trains 2 and 3 of the day to get to Eccles via Huyton.
Arriving in Eccles, I bought a day travelcard for the trams and then explored some of the new lines, before going back Carluccio’s in Piccadilly station to have my meeting.
I then took trains 4 and 5, from Manchester to Derby after my meeting, saw the match which was a crazy four-all draw and then came back into Euston at 01:30 this morning, using trains 6 and 7.
I’m a bit tired this morning, but it was a good day and it could have been much worse if Ipswich had lost. It would also have been a lot more expensive, if I’d decided to partake of some of dubious and very expensive hospitality of East Midlands Trains.
I must say this for Travelodge, who when I decided to not use the room I had booked, allowed me to painlessly cancel it with no charge over the Internet.
Electrification At Eccles
I got off the train at Eccles station and took these pictures of the electrification.
It’s all coming on at a pace faster than I had expected. And it looks a lot more robust than I’m used to seeing on railways in the UK. More details on the electrification of this line are given here in Wikipedia.
The first benefit for rail users will be Manchester to Scotland services by Trans Pennine using new Class 350 electric trains,, which are scheduled to start at the end of this year. Liverpool to Manchester services should start in a year or two, using refurbished Class 319 trains.
The First Shoots Of Electrification
Huyton lies on the original route of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway and you pass through Rainhill, where the trials were synonymous with the Stephenson’s Rocket, on your way to Manchester. As you travel you notice the pylons for the electrification of the line by the trackside.
It reminds me of watching as a child, as the pylons started to be added to the Great Eastern Main Line electrification was extended to Chelmsford and Colchester in the 1950s and 1960s.
There is one big difference. The modern pylons are much stronger than those of the past. Hopefully, these will cure some of the overhead wiring problems encountered on some of the lines electrified in the last century.
Huyton Station
To get to Manchester from Preston, you can go directly to Manchester Victoria, but I wanted to go to Eccles to see the start of the electrification of the lines in the area.
I changed trains at Huyton on the edge of Liverpool.
A Train Leaves Huyton For Liverpool
The station is a bit different to when I used it years ago in about 1965. At the time, I was in digs in the area, whilst studying at Liverpool University and went there once to catch a train into the city. I think I may have cycled there from my digs, but I have no memory of the details.
But it wasn’t the smart station it is today. Although Wikipedia says here it will be getting better. it will in a couple of years be on a fully electrified line between Liverpool and Manchester, with four platforms instead of just two.
Are East Midlands Trains Serious About Running Trains?
Although, I’m an Ipswich Town supporter, I live in London, a short bus or Underground ride from Kings Cross and St. Pancras stations. So as this week, Ipswich are playing at Derby and Sheffield Wednesday, you’d think it would logical that tomorrow, I go to Derby and on Saturday I go to Sheffield from St. Pancras.
You would be wrong!
As there is no direct return train from Derby back to St. Pancras, I decided to go via Preston and Manchester to Derby, as I have things I want to see for this blog and someone to meet in Manchester. The latter solves my supper problem, as we’re meeting in Carluccio’s in Piccadilly. I can also get an excellent gluten-free breakfast on Virgin trains on the way up.
I did think about staying overnight in the Travelodge by Derby station, but after trying to buy a ticket to get back on Wednesday morning, I decided that the prices on offer, were just too steep. Other similar distance journeys, early in the morning to London, were certainly cheaper than those on offer from East Midland Trains.
So I decided to get home via Birmingham and Virgin Trains for £22.00 after the match. And that includes First Class from Birmingham to Euston. But I do get into London at 01:30 on Wednesday morning.
On Saturday, I’m going to Sheffield via Lincoln, as I have an old friend I want to see and can get a train from Lincoln to Sheffield. It’s not as roundabout as you’d think.
But I’ve done this before, as last time, I went to Sheffield Wednesday, I went via Doncaster, as the First Class on East Coast, is so much better than that on East Midland Trains.
The Anonymous Widower 