Passenger service in England

[Aikidomaster]

My wife and I just got back from London and Paris. We celebrated our 28th anniversary. We took the Eurostar from Paris to London and back again. What a fantastic experience!! We went coach class in one direction and First class on the way back. Both were fantastic! The trains arrived and departed on time. They cars were clean and the people working for the railroad were polite and helpful. We also took the Great Western Railway in Great Britain. We went from Paddington station in London to Windsor Castle one day and the next day took a trip to Oxford. Again, the trains were clean. They arrived and departed on time. The stations were clean and the people were helpful. Both the Eurostar and the Great Western Railway were much smoother than any Amtrak car I have ridden. Needless to say, the speeds are much faster. With the new $8 billion that Congress has given Amtrak, it is a start. But we (the United States) must move into the 21st Century and take a close look at high speed rail transportation. Our highway system is overcrowded and in need of repairs. What better way to decrease pollution and the use of oil than high speed rail compared to taking the airlines (who's on time records are poor) and taking your car. What is your opinion?

[markpierce]

I've ridden on all sorts of trains in England, Germany, Switzerland, and France, from doodlebugs to the ICE.  All were clean and the railroad staff helpful and respectful, except for one station agent in London, England who sold us the wrong (and much more expensive) ticket.  Perhaps the sewage smell in the ticket area had gotten to her.

 

Mark

[daveklepper]

Wow,   what photos!

[54light15]

One of the benefits of the British system is that you can take a clean, on time train from St. Pancras and ride to Keighley and take a trip on the steam powered Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, or ride to Loughborough and travel on the Great Central Railway which was having a sixties festival on the weekend I was there. The beer tent had TEN real ales! I was in the cab of the Tornado! Real ale on the train, high-speed run-bys! What a time! I hope the Brits know how lucky they are.  

[cudjoebob]

I was in england/scotland for 2 weeks last year. I agree: fast, frequent, and clean trains. an excellent system that runs near everywhere. and the family I was visiting in the south apologised to me because the rail service was so much worse than it used to be! one major thing I did not like: even though the train service london-edinburg was fast and frequent, the seats are cramped, uncomfortable, and non reclining. more like a greyhound bus. they move a lot of people quickly and on time, but amtrak's amfleet coaches are far more comfortable.

[cudjoebob]

one disadvantage of london is that there are so many main train stations. one time, (when I was in band camp), I was trying to get to the Pancreas station, and I ended up on the wrong side of the Alimentary Canal. I had to go back up to the Heart of the city and take another Leg back down! ah ha ha ha! get it?

[cogloadreturns]

Very droll.

There is a monster thread about British Railway Operations on the main forum. Have a dig around.  

 

[Anonymous]

Aikidomaster

But we (the United States) must move into the 21st Century and take a close look at high speed rail transportation. Our highway system is overcrowded and in need of repairs. What better way to decrease pollution and the use of oil than high speed rail compared to taking the airlines (who's on time records are poor) and taking your car. What is your opinion?

For the first six months on FY10, the nation's commercial airlines arrived on-time 82% of the time.  During the same period Amtrak's on-time arrival score was 81%.  The Acela was on the advertised 80.9% of the time, whilsts the NEC excluding Acela operations were on-time 78.4%  The on time arrival percentage for the short distance corridor trains was 82.7%, whilst the long distance trains saw on time arrivals touch 77.8%.