Recent content by Martin_1981

My parents years ago back in 2008 returning from Cornwall to Leicester, the line between Gloucester and Birmingham was closed. My dad refused to do that trip by replacement bus again after his experience a couple of years earlier (replacement bus was a few mins late arriving at Gloucester...

The best 2 qualities of the Voyagers has to be the fact that they are solid as a rock reliability wise as you say and, the acceleration for a diesel train is second to none. Apart from that, not much else.

My dad is has return tickets from Leicester to Exeter, out on Sat 20th, back on 27th. He's determined to travel on those days and won't go via London. My suggestion to him (not that he ever bloody listens mind) is, assuming worst case scenario with no XC services those days, are either: Option...

Salisbury to Whimple in Feb 2014. Train from Waterloo terminated after a landslide at Crewkerne and the diversionary route via Westbury blocked due to flooding. My mates partner has also had to get a taxi from Yate to Barnstaple a few times with trains cancelled, also she needs special...

There used to be a train around 7am from Birmingham to Skeggy via Leicester in the late 90s/very early 2000's. Used to call at Leicester around 8am if I remember rightly and was usually either a 150/153 combo or a 153/156 combo. I believe there was also a Coventry to Skeggy train either an hour...

My dad was on the 0611 Derby to Plymouth Voyager from Birmingham to Exeter on Sat 16th Aug (a 5 car 221). The engine beneath the carriage he was travelling in cut out several times en-route and seemed to have died completely at Tiverton Parkway as it crawled out of the station. Still managed to...

Ok cheers for that.

Be interesting to see which route it takes from there. EWR to Oxford then Foxhall Junction onto GWML to Bristol and so forth or from Bletchley down the WCML, Acton and GWML to Reading and via the B&H to Taunton etc.

I'm trying to find out the route of the above railtour from Nottingham to Paignton this Saturday using the Midland Pullman HST, but there is nothing on RTT yet. I see from the itinerary its last stop before Torquay is Bedford. Which route will it take from Bedford to Torquay? Will it be via...

I thought reinstating a direct service between Leicester and Coventry was part of the Midlands Rail Hub project which was announced 3-4 years ago, with a dive under/tunnel at the South end of Nuneaton station being proposed Or is that now dead in the water? If so, extending the Nottingham -...

I remember approx 20 years ago when the last train from Birmingham to Leicester was around 21:30 on weekdays and a Saturday.

Yes, my dad caught the 1127 Plymouth to Edinburgh from Exeter to Birmingham on Tuesday 13th August, again a 4 coach Voyager and it was packed.

My dad caught the 08:37 Penzance to Edinburgh XC service from St Erth to Birmingham 2 days after Boxing Day last year. A 4 Coach Class 220 which was full by the time it got to Truro, and by Plymouth passengers were standing all along the corridors. At Exeter and Bristol it was utter carnage...

Still no guarantee that the cancelled services will be reinstated in November. I guess it will be reviewed on a weekly, or at least monthly basis. They will save a lot of money in not having to pay out as much in compensation for cancelled trains.

The fact that XC have only given the timetable for the first week starting 10th August, leads me to think that it will probably change from week to week, with the potential for further service reductions.