Train travel in the UK

"I had some questions about train travel in GB, so I called my
travel agent, and here is what she told me. They NEVER recommend
that you check your luggage on a train, because chances are good
you may never see it again. What you do is take it on with you,
and then you have to lift it to the overhead compartment.

Indeed. A few railway companies are now offering to send luggage
by road (in advance), but normally you take the luggage to the train
yourself. If you have a lot of luggage then on long-distance trains
you can give it to the guard who will look after it in the baggage
car. However on short-distance trains you'll usually have to
leave it either at the end of the car (near the door) or near
where you are sitting. You don't have to use the overhead
compartments.

Also,
unless you are taking a train from a major city and returning to
that major city, the trains are like metros--they arrive on time,
and leave on time, and if you aren't at the head of the line you
may not get on.
There are no boarding calls. This would be like
the metro in Paris, and we had to wait several times for the next
one*. We might not have the option of another train coming along
in a smaller town."

Unless you are travelling on a very popular train, usually during
rush hour in urban areas, you will never have to 'miss the train
and get the next one'. Generally trains really aren't that busy.
It is only in rush hour that it becomes standing-room-only.
And on most trains you can reserve a seat anyway! On the busier
ones seat reservations are free.

Boarding calls? You mean an announcer? At major stations they
announce where the trains are going. And at very major stations
you even have a porter service and the train waits around for quite
a long time for people to get on. At minor stations you'll get
little more than an electronic destination board... and that's
if you're lucky.

Trains in Britain don't usually run on time or leave on time :-)
But usually they're not much more than 5-10 mins late.

How do I convince her that it's really not so difficult, that we
can manage just fine taking a train on our own and really don't
need a bus tour? I don't know what to say to make her see that
trains are perfectly manageable, even with luggage.

Trains are a very popular way of getting around the UK, particularly
for journeys to places like Bath, Edinburgh and Cambridge! The only
thing is, if you have a lot of luggage it can be a little awkward
carrying it around. Major stations do have luggage trollies
and (apart from in the rush hour) people will help you to carry
things on and off.

Obviously carrying luggage on to the train is going to be a little more
hassle than using a bus or organised tour, but the ultimate
convenience and speed will outweight that negative.

I suppose the 2 'difficulties' with the train system a

* The ticketing is really complicated. There are about 50 different
types of ticket you can buy. If you want to travel before 9:30am on
a weekday the fares are usually about twice the fare after 9:30!
And in general, one-way tickets are usually the same price as round-trips.
So if you are making a 'circular' journey it will cost you a lot of money.
Don't travel 'first class' as it'll cost you a LOT more.
To get the cheapest tickets on long-distance routes (saving you about 30% off
the turn-up-and-go fares) you're advised to book a week in advance, if not 2 weeks.

* At weekends there tend to be engineering works that cause a lot of
alterations. So if travelling on Saturday or Sunday be prepared for
a longer journey than usual.


For me a bus tour would be a nightmare. But I like being independent.

phil

"Philip George" wrote
| To get the cheapest tickets on long-distance routes (saving you about
| 30% off the turn-up-and-go fares) you're advised to book a week in
| advance, if not 2 weeks.

You can get *much* cheaper tickets if you book about 8 weeks in advance for
a specific train. I almost got Stirling-York return for GBP17

| * At weekends there tend to be engineering works that cause a lot of
| alterations. So if travelling on Saturday or Sunday be prepared for
| a longer journey than usual.

Or to be 'bustituted'

Owain

Owain wrote:

"Philip George" wrote
| To get the cheapest tickets on long-distance routes (saving you about
| 30% off the turn-up-and-go fares) you're advised to book a week in
| advance, if not 2 weeks.

You can get *much* cheaper tickets if you book about 8 weeks in advance for
a specific train. I almost got Stirling-York return for GBP17

It's not the 8 weeks that is relevant though- it's availability. If
you're flexible, you can often get a cheap ticket like that 7 dys in
advance- but, yes, there will be a lot _more_ availability the further
in advance you book.

David

--
David Horne- www.davidhorne.co.uk
davidhorne (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk