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In my experience the lounge showers are excellent, and preferable to the onboard version (which is push-button, lowish pressure, not too hot). I tend only to travel ‘home’ on the CS, so a morning shower isn’t a big deal, whereas an evening one is much appreciated. I always make the time to get...

Dalwhinnie station is in a wonderfully scenic setting, assuming you can see the scenery through the rain, clouds and mist … you may find it useful to know there’s a very good cafe/ restaurant called the Apiary (or at least there was, in 2024) where you can recharge between trains. It can’t be...

Cairngorm Hotel opposite Aviemore station. Nothing to write home about, though …

Given that only last week he was pleased to announce a study into whether Scottish sleepers could be extended to European destinations (!), it may in fact be closer to his radar. 1787262436 Sad but true. I love the CS and take it whenever I can, but if it goes wrong it goes very, very wrong...

Strathspey is back to running steam today.

Well, Inverness is my line and I would say that 33-50% of the time, trying to book 2-3 weeks in advance, I can’t get a room. That’s based on about 20 trips over the last two years or so. (I only book northbound because, addressing a separate issue, the issues with punctuality are such that I’m...

Andy Burnham’s pitch: ‘Make me an MP and when I become PM, HS2 will be going to Manchester before you can say Bobby Charlton’

Decent food and service on the 1330 ex EDB on Wednesday and the 2003 back from KGX the following evening. Chicken tagine looks small but is great with a decent quantity of meat. The croque (which I tried on another occasion) is also generously sized. The FC lounge at both stations was closed, I...

Having just travelled, can I just say how excellent it is to have 1930 and 2003 departures from Kings Cross to Edinburgh. Makes all the difference not to have to rush quite so much at the end of a full working day in London. I always said that a train in this slot would harm demand for the...

Whilst I broadly knew that and am nevertheless a keen buyer of CS tickets I must say that maybe 50% of the times that I went to travel, I can’t. Not always at peak times, either. Provocatively- I do perhaps 12 trips a year - but look at 24 and end up going by day train for many of them - I...

Beat me to it

Would you look at the Bird in Hand in Stafford? Five mins walk from the station, across a park (yes, a road too). I asked for forum suggestions for a drink around Stafford, where I had a long change one day last summer. I had a delicious two pints of something local. https://birdinhandstafford.com/

I appreciate that (and I apologise for my mis-spelling): my point was/ is: it’s a super-busy road now (including buses and ADM lorries). I’ve seen trams, buses and cars integrated in plenty of places but this seems tight. The pinch point is at the bottom of my Edinburgh road! Car > tram in any...

Looks like serious wibble compared to where the council actually are on planning any extension of the tram network at all - routes (the debate over Orchard Brae vs cycle paths is still unresolved; how exactly do you make the link from Newhaven to Grantown without getting your feet wet) plus OFC...

Thanks - I have booked the 2003. Great to have that wider choice. Not going till early March but I’ll report at the time.

A nit-pick: LNER in their PDF menu list all their suppliers. One of these is Nairn’s gluten free oatcakes, cited as being from Lanarkshire. The last time I looked Nairns (including, I thought, the then new gluten-free lines) were firmly in Peffermill in Edinburgh, as they always have been. They...

Proud to claim Euston to Inverness via Aberdeen (a belatedly diverted/ delayed sleeper).

New timetable for me: we have a 1930 and a 2003 from London to Edinburgh. First, is this true (I’m thrilled if it is) and second, I believe the offering is the Dish, but are the trains busy? I need to book a trip in March. Background - I’ve always thought that an 8 pm ex London to Ed was a...

Charcoal restaurant (‘fusion’; used to be Roo’s Leap) at Aviemore is part of the station buildings and has a (back) door opening onto the station platform.

Indeed, my kids (one from Edinburgh, one from Fife via Dundee) are connecting in to it to travel north this evening.