Recent content by leshuttle

The role of coach‑full indicators has some potential use here but still goes back to the same issues discussed earlier of where the train stops or passenger ignorance. Operators with reserved seats like LNER and Avanti show them on departure boards, but plenty of people still ignore them or...

Not sure it has the required capacity and staffing for UK customs and border control inbound from the EU.

Couldn't find much recent coverage of this online apart from a public Facebook post, but doesn't look like the Dublin Swift will sail at all this year. Seemingly, work on the Terminal 5 berth has been postponed until the November, leaving very limited capacity at Holyhead port just for the...

Regularly pass the registration kiosks passing through St Pancras on my way to Thameslink and the entrance to them remains firmly shut since they were installed. Don’t envisage things changing there anytime soon, so all fingerprinting after checkin if it happens at all.

Walked it in daylight in 2019 and found it not very pleasant, but bearable. Not sure there's been much change since, but there's at least a pavement for the whole route, albeit narrow in some spots. Wouldn't recommend in darkness. Mostly surrounded by port perimeter fencing so no views, and a...

Ten years ago, I was travelling from Edinburgh to Euston on a Virgin service that ran via Birmingham. I’d planned to do the weekend First Class upgrade and boarded the front half of a 10‑coach Super Voyager. The Train Manager, however, was in the rear portion of the set, so no upgrade was ever...

In the mid‑2000s/before the last financial crash, Virgin Trains’ First Class felt like a completely different, and far more memorable experience. Tables were fully set with placemats, cutlery, glasses and cups on most weekday departures from the terminal stations, and hot drinks were regularly...

The last time I travelled this line was in 2006 on a return leg to Preston, aboard a Class 57‑hauled Virgin Pendolino bound for Euston that started from Carlisle. That spring afternoon ride sticks in my memory, the 8 or 9 coach set carried only a handful of passengers. Back then the blockade...

South of London? Unlikely any paths free via Kensington Olympia and Gatwick anymore, but Brighton would be great for restoring direct connections to from the north west. Only good for 805s unless Hitachi have a 3rd rail module for their 800s.

I was reading the recent thread about old withdrawn international ferry routes, and it got me thinking about how many domestic ferry routes within the UK have also disappeared or changed their route over the last few decades. Some of them feel surprisingly recent, others already half‑forgotten...

Across South America, São Paulo’s Guarulhos Airport in Brazil is currently the only one served directly by a metro line. Santiago, Chile is expected to join it in the coming years, with plans underway to extend the city’s metro network to the airport.

Unlike the Netherlands, despite also being a very pro-cycling nation, bicycle space is very poor and boarding difficult on long distance trains. Added to that a bike supplement is required on all trains. Likewise the space for wheelchairs on these trains is very limited and difficult to board.

As a follow-up, we travelled from St Pancras, and with the Tour de France festivities underway, the train to Dover was busy with cyclists. Nevertheless, everyone managed to store their bikes either in the designated area or close by within the same carriage. On the Belgian side, our experience...

We're also doing some of this trip soon starting from London to De Panne so shall find out. Re the Southeastern bit... On the Southeastern timetable download you can see if the train is 6 or 12 carriages and how busy it's predicted to be. Should be enough space if it's 12 carriages for many...

Been on a heavily delayed Eurostar from Amsterdam before in 2022 that got routed round the west side of Brussels and then in to the fully gated platforms before reversing out.