1st or 2nd class travel on trains in Britain???

Is there much of a difference between 1st and 2nd class rail travel between
say Edinburgh and London??

Any ideas or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,
Ronnie.

On Sun, 23 May 2004 12:51:53 +1000, Ronnie Vercetti wrote:

Is there much of a difference between 1st and 2nd class rail travel between
say Edinburgh and London??

Any ideas or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Yes - there's a big difference in comfort and price. First class is quite
pleasant, with quieter travelling companions and service of refreshments.
In 2nd you will be lucky to get a seat, next to unwashed yobs with loud
Walkmen(?), drunken squaddies with cans of Tenants lager and other
riff-raff.

J;

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You can always get a seat in 2nd class - it's booked free of charge when you
buy your ticket.
And these days plenty of "riff-raff" travel first class.

"Jeremy Henderson" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 23 May 2004 12:51:53 +1000, Ronnie Vercetti wrote:

Is there much of a difference between 1st and 2nd class rail travel
between
say Edinburgh and London??

Any ideas or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Yes - there's a big difference in comfort and price. First class is quite
pleasant, with quieter travelling companions and service of refreshments.
In 2nd you will be lucky to get a seat, next to unwashed yobs with loud
Walkmen(?), drunken squaddies with cans of Tenants lager and other
riff-raff.

J;

--
Encrypted e-mail address. Click to mail me:
http://cerbermail.com/?nKYh3qN4YG

Come on Jeremy ! It's not that bad !

First of all, most services allow you to reserve a seat (at no charge).

Secondly, most of us like to be in the middle of a bit of ordinary life:
sitting among a bunch of business people noisily discussing contracts on
their mobile phones is much more irritating (IMHO) than sharing a carriage
with Walkman users and lager drinkers.

"Jeremy Henderson" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 23 May 2004 12:51:53 +1000, Ronnie Vercetti wrote:

Is there much of a difference between 1st and 2nd class rail travel
between
say Edinburgh and London??

Any ideas or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Yes - there's a big difference in comfort and price. First class is quite
pleasant, with quieter travelling companions and service of refreshments.
In 2nd you will be lucky to get a seat, next to unwashed yobs with loud
Walkmen(?), drunken squaddies with cans of Tenants lager and other
riff-raff.

J;

--
Encrypted e-mail address. Click to mail me:
http://cerbermail.com/?nKYh3qN4YG

On Sun, 23 May 2004 11:46:04 +0100, Nick Fisher wrote:

Come on Jeremy ! It's not that bad !

First of all, most services allow you to reserve a seat (at no charge).

Secondly, most of us like to be in the middle of a bit of ordinary life:
sitting among a bunch of business people noisily discussing contracts on
their mobile phones is much more irritating (IMHO) than sharing a carriage
with Walkman users and lager drinkers.

My sentiments might be coloured by the last train journey I took, after a
holiday abroad, returning from London to Aberdeen. By the end of it I was
praying for a crash to release me from purgatory. I wept with relief as
Aberdeen came into view (and it's not often you can say that!).

As for" ordinary life", I'm with the Harry Dean Stanton character in Repo
Man that said "ordinary f*cking people - I hate 'em" ;-)

J;

"Jeremy Henderson" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 23 May 2004 12:51:53 +1000, Ronnie Vercetti wrote:

Is there much of a difference between 1st and 2nd class rail travel
between
say Edinburgh and London??

Any ideas or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Yes - there's a big difference in comfort and price. First class is
quite pleasant, with quieter travelling companions and service of
refreshments. In 2nd you will be lucky to get a seat, next to unwashed
yobs with loud Walkmen(?), drunken squaddies with cans of Tenants lager
and other riff-raff.

J;

--
Encrypted e-mail address. Click to mail me:
http://cerbermail.com/?nKYh3qN4YG


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"Ronnie Vercetti" wrote
| Is there much of a difference between 1st and 2nd class rail travel
| between say Edinburgh and London??

Not enough to make the prices worth paying, IMHO, unless you can get a
'Weekend First' upgrade or other special promotion. However those aren't
available on the cheap fares, which should be booked weeks in advance.

You should get use of the first class lounge at each end, if there is one,
possibly free tea and coffee, and priority in the dining car. Selected
carriages on selected trains are trialling Wi-Fi internet access.

First class is likely to be comparatively free of children, which might be
attractive if you are allergic to other people's children.

Edinburgh - London Kings Cross is run by GNER (Great North Eastern Railways,
or Going Nowhere Extremely Reluctantly) www.gner.co.uk

You might want to try and get one of their new Mallard trains
http://www.gner.co.uk/pages/mallard_times.html

Owain

"Jeremy Henderson" wrote in message
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Yes - there's a big difference in comfort and price. First class is quite
pleasant, with quieter travelling companions and service of refreshments.
In 2nd you will be lucky to get a seat, next to unwashed yobs with loud
Walkmen(?), drunken squaddies with cans of Tenants lager and other
riff-raff.

I well remember a dreadful journey from Preston to London, in First Class,
ruined by rugby fans, drinking alcohol to excess, singing rude songs and
generally throwing their weight about.

First Class guarantees only a wider seat.

J;

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OK, the problems described by others do exist but they are not the norm.
Second class works fine for me most of the time.

On long distance (like ediburgh/London) trains you will get 1 seat/aisle 2
seats in first and 2 seats either side of the aisle in 2nd. First
passengers sometimes get free light refreshments (look up
http://www.gner.co.uk/ for Edinburgh/London detail).

On commuter and local services there may not even be first and where there
is it may well be 2/2 while 2nd will be 3/2 but even 2nd can be 2/2 as well
as first (the difference being a bit more legroom.

Friday and Sunday evening can be crowded with weekenders. Saturdays (and
some Sundays) can be crowded with sports fans on their way too/from a
fixture but that's very route specific depending on fixtures. Late night
trains can be crowded and a bit raucous.

"Ronnie Vercetti" 31.au remove nospam &
numbers wrote in message
...
Is there much of a difference between 1st and 2nd class rail travel
between
say Edinburgh and London??

Any ideas or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,
Ronnie.

On 23/5/04 14:52, in article , "Marie Lewis"
wrote:


"Jeremy Henderson" wrote in message
news

Yes - there's a big difference in comfort and price. First class is quite
pleasant, with quieter travelling companions and service of refreshments.
In 2nd you will be lucky to get a seat, next to unwashed yobs with loud
Walkmen(?), drunken squaddies with cans of Tenants lager and other
riff-raff.

I well remember a dreadful journey from Preston to London, in First Class,
ruined by rugby fans, drinking alcohol to excess, singing rude songs and
generally throwing their weight about.

First Class guarantees only a wider seat.

That's bad luck, but you're generally safer from chavs in First Class.

J;

On Sun, 23 May 2004 11:51:53 +1000, "Ronnie Vercetti"
31.au remove nospam & numbers wrote:

Is there much of a difference between 1st and 2nd class rail travel between
say Edinburgh and London??

Any ideas or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,
Ronnie.

Whether first or second, unless you want your ears battered by morons
incessantly yelling "oh HI, I'm on the TRAIN" into their mobile
phones, find the Quiet Coach, in which the use of the damn things is
supposedly banned.

However, many mobile phone users appear to be either dyslexic, pig
ignorant or both, and will still shout their moronic drivel at the top
of their idiotic voices. Grabbing their clothing and pointing to the
sign on the window (of a mobile phone crossed out and "Quiet Zone" in
big letters) usually works. Failing that, grab the phone and tell them
you're confiscating it until the end of the journey :-)