Recent content by Keele13

Thanks for the advice all - I decided not to travel in the end because, to be frank, I'd had a long week and couldn't face standing at Derby station for hours in the freezing cold! Now I've got to battle with Virgin's automated telephone system (how many menus does one system need?) to speak so...

Ok, my train is now showing up as 'cancelled' on NRE. Is there any chance this will change? Otherwise going via Derby is the only real alternative by the looks of things. So, a couple more questions. 1. As my Virgin ticket is for First Class, would East Midlands trains accommodate me in...

The 1212 departure from Stoke is showing as going via Birmingham and arriving into London 55 minutes late - everything else on Stoke's current departure board is either cancelled or terminating at Northampton. Any idea why going via Birmingham helps? I don't think this train would normally go...

Hi, Thought I'd post in here rather than on the main thread about the derailment near Bletchley. I am booked on the 2053 Stoke-on-Trent to London Euston service this evening (on a First Advance Single). Hopefully the problems will be sorted out by then, but if not I would need to consider...

Birmingham Airport (http://www.birminghamairport.co.uk/) is called just that these days - it isn't called Birmingham International Airport anymore, so renaming the station would be the correct thing to do from that point of view.

I live in Newcastle-under-Lyme and do not consider it to be 'isolated from the rail network' as per the thread title. Stoke station is very easy to get to by bus, and the buses run late enough to meet the last trains. If you really wanted to, Crewe and Stafford are also both accessible from...

If you've never been to Northampton before I would recommend you get the bus to the bus station - the walk is fairly short, but it will take you through the market square and a shopping centre or a dingy alley, and I don't think that Google Streetview or Google Earth will be much help...

The more stuff you cram in a vestibule, the less space for people to stand up, so if you had those fold down seats you're effectively cutting the number of people who can fit in the space from about 3 to 1, and whoever sits down has their face in someone's backside! A recessed shelf (so not one...

Pretty much exactly 2 miles from Stoke-on-Trent station...though given the close proximity of a rather good pub, the journey home may take several hours!

I used to steward at football and rugby matches, and Mr Sands used to turn up there every now and again...presumably on his days off from keeping an eye on railway stations!

The Glebe and the White Star in Stoke - less than 5 mins walk from the station, and both do great beer and pretty decent food (in the White Star anyway).

I did Euston-Inverness and Ft William-Euston a month back and would agree that the sleeper is getting a little tired. On the way up the aircon in two of the coaches was broken - we were lucky and snagged the last empty berth in one of the cooler carriages, it would have been miserable if we'd...

Christopher Eccleston. I was on a very crowded Cross Country service to Birmingham New Street, and ended up standing in the vestibule between first class and the last standard class carriage (with about 6 other people). Mr Eccleston came out to use the loo - queue many jokes about it being...

Thanks everyone. I'll find out if going via London is an option - I don't know what she'll have in the way of luggage, etc.

Hello all, I'd appreciate a little help with a journey for a friend. She would like to travel from Manchester Piccadilly to Penzance on May 20th, returning a week later on May 27th. Ideally she'd like to set off fairly early, but outside the main rush hour. The fewer changes the better...