Rail journey through England

[Tsaar Martijn]

First I would like to introduce myself. I am Tsaar Martijn and living in the capital of the Netherlands, Amsterdam. I made a lot of journeys through Europe by train. This March (2019) I will visit the UK for the first time. I have already booked the Eurostar back to Amsterdam on the 31th of March. I will arrive in the UK in New Castle, with the ferry from IJmuiden.

On my trips I like to take pictures and videos of trains. Now is my question. What are the rules of photographing in and around railwaystations and what are the best railwaystations or railwaylines for spotting cargotrains?

My global plan is to go to York, Manchester, Liverpool and London. I hope to have an answer soon.

 

[gazthomas]

Welcome to the forum! I was in Amsterdam only last Saturday, arriving by direct Eurostar, returning from Schipol. It was cold!

Guidelines from the railway infrastructure owner Network Rail can be found here: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/commu...lway-enthusiasts-and-photography-at-stations/

I have never had to advise station staff that I'm taking photos. Stay behind the yellow line, don't use a flash or tripod and you should have a great time!

 

[30907]

This page should help. You will occasionally come across unhelpful staff, but carrying a printed copy, as suggested, will help you.
https://www.networkrail.co.uk/commu...lway-enthusiasts-and-photography-at-stations/
You may also find http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk helpful for finding out about freight traffic (use the Detailed option). Please note: a train that is "expected" at a certain time may not yet have started its journey, so check the individual train details!..

For freight, Crewe and Doncaster are usually good - except that at Crewe many freight trains use the bypass lines West of the station. Other forum members will have better advice....

 

[xotGD]

I've only once had any problems when I've been photographing at a station. That was at Amsterdam Centraal!

Enjoy the trip. If you are planning on visiting York, then stopping off down the line at Doncaster would be a good option for seeing and photographing freight trains.

 

[James Wake]

I do hope you enjoy your trip, look into getting an Interrail pass before you leave the Netherlands as that may be the best option to give you train travel across the UK.

 

[Tsaar Martijn]

My apologise for the late response I ws busy with family issues and had to finish my graduate thesis.

I see that the rules in the UK aren't that diffferent from the Netherlands.

I do hope you enjoy your trip, look into getting an Interrail pass before you leave the Netherlands as that may be the best option to give you train travel across the UK.

I was thinking of an Interrail too. It gives you more options to change your plans.

 

[Bevan Price]

This page should help. You will occasionally come across unhelpful staff, but carrying a printed copy, as suggested, will help you.
https://www.networkrail.co.uk/commu...lway-enthusiasts-and-photography-at-stations/
You may also find http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk helpful for finding out about freight traffic (use the Detailed option). Please note: a train that is "expected" at a certain time may not yet have started its journey, so check the individual train details!..

For freight, Crewe and Doncaster are usually good - except that at Crewe many freight trains use the bypass lines West of the station. Other forum members will have better advice....

Stafford is better than Crewe for photographing freights - they are all visible from the platforms. Tamworth can also be quite good, but you need to move between the High Level & Low Level platforms to try and see everything. Others should be able to advise better than me about London area freight, but I think that Stratford (East London) can be quite good (unlike the more famous Stratford Upon Avon which has zero freight.) Be cautious about displaying expensive cameras if you are alone on a few of the quieter stations in the suburbs of London and a few other big cities....