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Essential UK Train Travel Tips and Q&A for First-Time Travellers · UK Travel Planning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to episode 151 of the UK Travel Planning Podcast.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: This week, doug joins me as we dive into your most asked questions about UK train travel, including some great ones from members of our UK Travel Planning, london Travel Planning and UK Train Travel Tips, facebook groups.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: If you're planning to travel by train in the UK, this episode's for you.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: Your host is the founder of the UK Travel Planning website, Tracey Collins.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: In this podcast, Tracey shares destination guides, travel tips and itinerary ideas, as well as interviews with a variety of guests who share their knowledge and experience of UK travel to help you plan your perfect UK vacation.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: Join us as we explore the UK from cosmopolitan cities to quaint villages, from historic castles to beautiful islands, and from the picturesque countryside to seaside towns.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to episode 151.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: So, as I said in the introduction, this week Doug is joining me to answer some of the most common questions that are asked in our Facebook group.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: So a huge thank you to Catherine, our moderator, for putting down the most commonly asked questions that she's noted in the group, and for those of you who ask specific questions, it's great.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: So Doug can actually answer some of those questions a bit more directly.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: Now I also want to say, before Doug says hello, is that Doug has also got an e-book Guide to UK Train Travel.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: So I would recommend having a look at that for even more information from Doug about train travel in the UK, and we also have lots of different other podcast episodes about train travel.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: Doug's also working on YouTube videos, so do pop along and join our YouTube.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: So I know there's lots of things I've just mentioned there, but there is a lot to help you with train travel.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: And of course, there is Doug's UK Train Travel Tips Facebook group as well, which is growing massively at the moment.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: So anyway, I'll hand over to Doug so he can kind of talk a little bit about that and what sort of things we're going to cover in this episode.
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: Hello everybody.
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and thank you everybody for submitting your questions about your experiences and the things you look at to be answered by myself.
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah, lots of things going on at the moment, so very exciting times for us, with all the train development of the videos and everything else we're doing.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: I'm very excited and hopefully we'll be able to get um at least the first three videos on um by, hopefully, the middle of june.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: We're nearly finished.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: We're putting those together.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: Youtube videos do take a little bit more time to do, but we have got a lot of footage.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: Um, and what are those, those first videos that you've got ready?
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: What are they about?
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: the first one's the caledonian sleeper, the lowlander sleeper and the second one is me taking all the available operators on the East Coast main line from London Kings Cross to Edinburgh.
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: I split the journey up so I've got a taste of all the three main operators on that route.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: Oh, that'll be really useful for, especially if you're considering travelling from London to Edinburgh and we know that's an extremely popular route that'll be a really good, useful video for you to watch, for sure.
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: That's it.
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: I'm also doing one about the Edinburgh tram in Scotland.
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: Um, so I take the tram to and from the city centre to Edinburgh airport, and just showing how easy that is and have you got any other videos that you plan to put together?
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: Yes, I've got a lot a longer video.
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: I'm putting together me journey from Edinburgh to Inverness via the East Coast, so that's via Aberdeen, and then I come back through the Highland Line via Perth back to Edinburgh and everything that entailed.
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: I always say it in more than one, because that was yeah, that was an interesting experience.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: Well, you actually can listen to that, because we talked about that on the on the podcast yeah, not that many few weeks ago anyway, so this episode is basically completely focused on uk train travel.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: We know that this is a huge source of anxiety for many of you, especially if you're not used to traveling by train yeah, the questions posed are really about the reality, the nuts and bolts of actually taking the train in the UK.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: Okay, so do we want to?
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: Can you want to give an overview of the sort of questions you're going to be answering, or do you want to go straight into it?
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: I'll just say all the questions posed by everyone.
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: There's sort of generic topics, but I have tried to break them down into the specific topics.
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: So the first one, for example, is about stations and platforms, so we'll focus on those.
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: To start with, I've grouped the questions together, so where the questions differ slightly, I will elaborate.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: Okay, perfect, and if there's a particular question or a particular topic that you want to listen to, obviously you can check the show notes out as well, so you may be able to head straight to that section, but otherwise I'd recommend listening to the entire podcast to give yourself a good preparation for UK train travel.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: Also, I will just sneak in here as well and say that Doug is going to be developing a workshop as well about how to plan a train trip around the UK.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: We will also offer an itinerary consult and we are going to be offering some itinerary planning as well.
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: So if you want some help, uh, planning a train travel itinerary around the uk, that will be coming soon.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: So that's a bit of a surprise announcement that I've just put out there, but anyway, um, do you want to go straight into and me asking the first question?
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: So I'm going to be asking the questions and Doug will be answering the questions.
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: I think that works Okay.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: Okay, so our first question is from Denise H I'm not going to say surnames Denise H, l in our Facebook group.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: So for those unfamiliar with UK trains, how do you know which platform to go to and what should travelers expect when it's not posted until just before departure any tips to avoid getting on the wrong train?
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: So thanks very much for that question, denise and it's a very, very good question.
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: That's probably why I put this one first is the fact there's a very real concern for people about getting on the wrong train.
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: The main tip I can offer is to arrive at the station in good time.
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: So if you're catching a train in the morning, pays to know exactly how you get in there, how long it's going to take you to get there and how big the station is.
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: Some stations, particularly london one, are big stations.
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: So, yes, it's unusual for a train that's running on time to not have the platform already on the screen when you get there.
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: But if it isn't, you know there's little tips you can find out.
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: So in the main entrance hall, most of the most stations, if not all, there's departure screens, departure boards.
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: Have a look at those and it should say the platform.
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: If it's not yet on there, uh, usually means the train's running late or the platform has not yet been allocated, which is not unusual on a big station.
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: But don't worry, if you're there well before that time, the platform is not yet displayed.
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: The train won't be going without you, you know.
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: Talk to the station staff, I mean.
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: Another little tip is to look at apps like the National Rail Enquiries, the live trains, because it wouldn't be unusual.
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: I've seen platform numbers arrive on there before it's actually on the screen.
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: So, yes, get there in plenty of time, use the apps available, talk to station staff.
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: That is the best tips you can give for that one.
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: But get there in plenty of time.
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: Well before so you go from the main foyer entrance hall there might be, you might be directed to a platform because it's most likely to be on there, but it's not yet displayed.
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: So okay, okay, okay, hopefully that's answered your question, uh, denise, and anybody else that's so concerned about that?
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: Um, so our next question.
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: So obviously we're talking about the moment, we're talking about stations and platforms.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: So next question is from uh rose f?
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: Um, if you've booked first class, how do you know where to stand on the platform to board the correct carriage, especially with long trains?
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: that again is a very good question and it's not just first class, it's standard class or the standard premium if you're traveling on the west coast is look for station markings, look for platform markings.
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: You know these can vary on different operators, particularly on the long trains might say first class at the a end of the platform or the b end of the platform.
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: Look at the departure screen.
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: Some of the screens might have first class at the front and then just talk to one of the station staff and they'll say yeah, the train is coming that way, going that way, sort of thing.
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: But look for boards, look for platform markings.
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: There will be some indication and in the occasions where you can't find anything, try and stand, stay in the middle of the platform.
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: That is the best indicator.
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: It's not failsafe and different operators and different stations work in slightly different ways.
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: As with the first question you just asked is get to the station in plenty of time.
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: Do not arrive seconds, minutes before, particularly if you've got luggage or mobility is an issue for you.
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: Do not leave it till the last minute.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: Get there in plenty of time and usually the staff can help as well.
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: They'll be able to direct you yeah, the station staff.
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: How you know, we've also been there in that same position.
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: You're thinking well, we have a reservation for coach f, now whereabouts is that going to be?
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: You can't say anything.
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: Talk to stations, and occasionally I've talked to all the passengers as well, because the likelihood is, if you've got that query and that you've got that question, others will have the same question.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: Okay, perfect.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: So next question from an energy how easy is it to find your platform and board in time?
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: So basically, a similar sort of question do platforms ever change last minute, like in other parts of europe?
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: yes, but the answer to that question is particularly around late running trains.
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: On some stations where there's only one or two, three or four platforms, it can change because in this modern world of you know the, the margins that they call them, the time between trains is pretty tight.
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: In the uk, particularly as you get towards.
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: You know big cities, you're booming manchester, london, liverpool, edinburgh, for example and so what happens is if a train's running late, a platform may not yet be allocated, because the last thing if you're running the railways in the UK I know from experiences you don't want to be delaying other trains because somebody has to pay for delay minutes.
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: So again, arrive in plenty of time and keep your eye on the departure boards, because if the departure board is on there for platform, you know platform three, going to, uh, manchester, you go.
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: You head all the way over from the, the foyer, the entrance hall to the platform, and it's happened to us more than once, hasn't it?
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: You've got there and there's been a platform change and you've had to go back again.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: So again, make sure you allow plenty of time to arrive at that station but also, I mean there can be some last minute changes and I've had that before.
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: But you'll find that, a they'll be usually generally will be an announcement.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: B it will show on the board and c everybody else will be moving quickly.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, to change and that's it.
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: You suddenly get a great influx of people moving, heading towards the escalators, the steps, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: And to be honest, once there is a platform changes.
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: There's quite often station staff around for that as well.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure.
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: Okay, is that covered?
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah, okay.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: So Melanie SB, my tickets from King's Cross to Edinburgh don't show a platform.
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: Is that normal?
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: You see the underlying theme here about platforms as well, but again, it's not unusual and can be for the same reasons as the previous question.
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: If the arriving train is running late and no platform has yet been allocated, the might just not physically know in the control this is which platform they can get allocated, because they don't want to be delaying all the services as well, and also sometimes it's for scheduling reasons, staffing reasons.
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: They might not know until shortly before departure okay, perfect.
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: So next, laura o n.
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: How much time should travelers allow when changing trains on multi-leg journeys?
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: that's a good question as well.
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: They're all very good questions aren't they yeah?
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: that is dependent on you really around your level of speed and mobility and whether you need any assistance to move between platforms.
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: Also, amount of luggage you've got, really as you need any assistance to move between platforms.
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: Also, amount of luggage you've got really as well.
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: And the ability to move up and up steps or escalators.
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: Even if lifts are available, you know they can be busy as well.
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: So when you do your journey planning, your itinerary planning, and you're looking at trains, you can modify the time between how to allocate between train changes sort of short, medium or long term.
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: And if even then it's not enough for you, what you can do is split your journey up into one journey and then plan your next journey, but allow as much time as you want in between.
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a good way of doing it.
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: So the thing is not to rush.
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: You know that from experience it's best not to of doing it.
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: So the thing is not to rush.
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: You know that from experience, that you're supposed not to rush between platforms.
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: I won't rush because I actually fell over a few years ago and ever since that time I think we were running up steps.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: I can't remember now Birmingham.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: New Street it was Birmingham New Street and I fell and since then I've refused point blank to run for a training because I don't want to get hurt.
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: I can't remember what the issue was at that particular time.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: I don't know why I was running, but I won't do that.
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: So yeah, I would say you need to decide how much time you think you will need.
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: And as Doug says, just book separate.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: So then you can choose how much time you want to go, you're in charge, yeah because if there's ever a delay and say the amount of time that you've got to change trains is reduced, then I personally find that quite stressful.
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and you board the train hot and sweaty.
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's just more stressful.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: I try to find the easiest way of making things as less stressful as possible.
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: Most definitely.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: And you know we're used to a lot of train travel.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: So I know there's a general question, because you've talked a lot in these previous questions about arriving in advance.
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: So how far in advance would you recommend to arrive before train departure?
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: You know, especially from some of those stations other than principal London stations.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: How long would you give yourself?
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: It's best to give yourself as much time as possible.
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: Plain, simple.
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: If you're catching the train at nine o'clock, um, and your your journey's taking taking a big distance to get there, you know there's going to be trained, delays, the road delays.
• 14:37
  Speaker 3: You know if you're waiting for a taxi that could be delayed, you know it's.
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: Give yourself as much possible time to get there to make that train.
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: Because something I'll add to that is well, some of the larger stations can be very confusing and disorientating.
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: That's true, you know they've got a main entrance hall, but there could be multiple entrances to that.
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: Just mention birmingham news street that to me is a perfect example.
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: You know edinburgh, where we spend a lot of time early in the year.
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: You know that's got several entrances too yeah, I think that's true.
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: I think it's kind of making yourself, if you can, familiar with the train station before you're actually going to take a train from there, if you can there is maps available of station layouts.
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: Uh, but that that was.
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: I won't tell you how much time to allow to get there, because to some stations as well is if you're coming in by car, you've got quite a walk then to the entrance hall.
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: So it's best to give yourself as much time as possible from arriving before actually boarding the train.
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think, if you want to become I was just talking about kind of the main stations in London we actually have got a podcast all about the different main stations in london and we also have got um, an article which covers those train stations and I think that's something probably would be a good youtube video at some point just to give me some sort of orientation, particularly around some of the bigger one, like st pancras international, kings cross, victoria woodloo, I mean there's, you know there's plenty of them, but I think that that is where.
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: So now I a rule of thumb for me because I can, I was, this is how I can operate.
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: It's like what do I do and I, 30 minutes before is ideal.
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: I don't care if I've got you know, if I'm there, I can go and do a little bit of get some food, get some magazines, make sure I'm on the platform um and and.
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: So that would be in London.
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: I would tend to be looking, or if I was doing a major trip, I would probably be there 30 minutes before.
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and a point to add to that is as well, if you've got quite a bit of luggage or for personal reasons you need to be taking the lifts, there can be a queue for the lift.
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: Yes, we've seen that several times.
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: So again you've got to allow that extra time when you actually get to the station arrival before boarding your train, before your train's expected departure time.
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: I mean, I arrive plenty of time anyway so I can look at the trains.
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so that's just me okay.
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: Next question from nancy m.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: If you're taking a train from london to somewhere like morton and marsh, for example, which is in the cot tools, um, how do you figure out?
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: Figure out which London station to use and how do you get there?
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: This?
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: Yeah, this could be a very long answer to this question, but if you're familiar with which station you need to depart from not just London, as other towns and cities in the UK can have multiple stations.
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: But you're right, it's not 100% clear at times as to which station you need to go from.
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: So that's why you need to be looking at a recommended journey planner app and that's the National Rail Enquiries for me.
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: I never deviate from that for journey planning because, as to me, it's the most accurate and up-to-date information.
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: And also, say, for Moreton in Marsh, we both know you should be departing from London Paddington, but if you're traveling to London Paddington from other stations, it might be other alternatives that can get you there in the quickest possible time to start your journey from Paddington.
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: So it's best to look at the apps available to you and plan that journey, which will give you all options okay, good so in fact.
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: That takes us nicely on the next topic, which is useful apps and navigation.
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: So we've got lorianne m.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: What are your top must-have apps for train travel in the uk?
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: okay, so I've been always looking at great websites a a bit like ours Yep, transport for London, for all London services as well.
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: The TFL Go app is excellent as well.
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: I've already mentioned the National Rail Enquiries I always use for journey planning, and their live trains part their app as well, because, I've already mentioned, it's a good place to look at for potential platform numbers, but also it's also very, very useful if you're on one train and you've got a connection to make.
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: Uh, everything we've already said about allowing yourself plenty of time but I use it quite often is if I'm on train from I don't know, for example, from london to manchester, and I'm going from manchester to liverpool, for example, and I want to have a lot of manchester first, I can always plan it in advance.
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: I can always look what the expected live trains platform numbers are showing at this moment in time.
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: Okay, so that's the ones I use mostly, and if you're actually travelling around London itself, the City Planner is really good because it gives you all modes of transport as well, but they're the best ones I use.
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: Okay, cool.
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: Now next question from Laura SD.
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: When changing trains in Europe or the UK, do you get clear directions?
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: How much time do you typically have?
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: So I think you mean by that station information as to where to go for your next departure platform.
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: Occasionally on boarding trains they'll give announcements, usually if the trains running late, they'll say passengers looking for trains to x, y and z?
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: The next train will depart in 15 minutes from platform three, for example.
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: So listen out for announcements on trains, listen out for station announcements as well.
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: But if you push your time on arrival at a station, what we, we, always do is, as soon as you get off the train, look for the nearest screen, because there's nearly always a departure board, departure screen on the platform you're arriving in.
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: So that's the best thing to do.
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: Also, talk to station staff as well, because there's always dispatch staff on, particularly for the longer trains on the platform, and they'll just give you some guidance.
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: Say you know which, particularly for the longer trains on the platform, and they'll just give you some guide and say you know which platform for the next train to, for example.
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: Okay, so one general question, which Catherine brought up, that comes up in our Facebook groups quite often, is actually how much time should travellers allow when transferring between St Pancras International and King's Cross railway stations?
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: So if you don't know, you will not know that they are right next door to each other, what they basically do.
• 21:04
  Speaker 3: There's two London stations but they head off in different directions.
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: So, yes, they're right next to each other, but they're both big stations.
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: So on one hand you say it's minutes but minutes.
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: But you know, if you get off one train, I would allow myself still 20 minutes, half an hour between those stations, because you've got to cross the road as well, which could be very busy again.
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: Both have got multiple entrances and exits, so you've got to find your way into there.
• 21:32
  Speaker 3: And if you're're going to St Pancras, for example, if you're going on the middle of Mainland or you're going on the Eurostar across the continent, you're in different parts of the station.
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: And also, to be honest, St Pancras and King's Cross.
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: They're both nice stations.
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: There's plenty to see at both stations as well.
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: Yeah, they're lovely stations.
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: I think King's Cross is now.
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: It didn't used to be.
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: It's funny we're just looking at.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: We're talking about this other day about how it used to be.
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: Obviously, yeah, but it's they've really improved it.
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: Good place for train spot in there, all right, okay.
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: So next question from carol h if the train station is far from your final destination, how easy is it to navigate the local bus system, and should you book transport or ahead or stay flexible?
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: Actually, I'm just going to answer a little bit with this one, carol.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: It's that often we will check the hotels especially if you've got luggage are not too far from the train station.
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: It makes life a lot easier.
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: So that's just one tip that I would say.
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: We've stayed so close to train stations in most of the cities in the UK.
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: It just makes it a lot easier, because there's nothing worse than having to drag your suitcases too long a distance.
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: So I guess that's why I asked about buses.
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: But yeah, well, doug, what do you recommend?
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: I think.
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: I think the the main answer to that is do your research in advance.
• 22:46
  Speaker 3: So there's many factors.
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: When you chose your accommodation away from a train station and you know that depends how long you're staying for as well, how much luggage you've got, how easy is it to get there, what public transport is open to you.
• 23:01
  Speaker 3: So you do you do best to do your research.
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: I mean things like um hotels, bed and breakfast.
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: Most of them have a website these days and most of them have how to get to them.
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: Yeah, as to you know, but depends how long you're there for.
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: To be honest, my advice is don't.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: My advice is not to hop on a bus.
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: My advice is to get a taxi from us at the train station or get yourself an Uber to your transport, to your accommodation.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: That's what I do.
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: If that's open to you, if that's an option that you can pursue, yeah, just easier Buses.
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: There's multiple companies up and down the country and there's no one answer to that.
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: I travel around Wales and I use public transport but again, it's about doing that advanced research as to which bus companies are open to you, towns and cities.
• 23:48
  Speaker 3: I probably wouldn't use a bus because it'll take too long to get there.
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: Not the easiest with amounts of luggage, and also, if we're not talking big cities and towns to rely on a rural bus service, because it'll take too long to get there, not the easiest with amounts of luggage, and also, if you if we're not talking big cities and towns to rely on a robo service, wouldn't do it.
• 24:05
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't think they are regular enough and frequent enough service to be able to do that.
• 24:07
  Speaker 3: Sometimes you can, particularly in summer months.
• 24:09
  Speaker 3: But it's also good to be aware of your onward journey, so how you get back and have enough time to get back to the station as well after your stay yeah, I definitely agree.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: Next topic we are current our train companies, seat reservations and booking tips, and I'll get lots, lots questions about the train tickets.
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: So this is from Karen T any specific tips or insights for the power?
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: This is a very specific one for the Paddington to Penzance route or the train company operating it again.
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we have been talking about this recently and we're going to do the night riviera soon.
• 24:42
  Speaker 3: So this is a regular great western railway service from london, paddington.
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: It takes around five hours for the fastest service, a beautiful journey, um, and it departs roughly every hour during the weekdays.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: Uh, and obviously, yeah, the night riviera, which takes around eight hours, runs six nights a week, not on a saturday which we will be doing shortly, so there will be a video and a podcast about that, hopefully by the end of the year good, and I should point out that's a standard class only for night riviera ah, which again, then, sandy s has asked us what's your take on the night rivera?
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: Uh, sleeper is worth doing.
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: Well, we'll be able to give you a little bit more information about that yeah, we'll give.
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we'll give you more information when we're doing that, which I've traveled the the route, the direction from london to penzance, quite a few times yeah, not in recent years, but I have done it quite a few times.
• 25:32
  Speaker 3: But, yeah, we're going to do that later this year.
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: It's the same as the caledonian sleeper service that you get from scotland to london use on on the west coast main line.
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: So the similarity is it's very popular and can get booked up fast.
• 25:48
  Speaker 3: So book as soon as you can after finalizing your itinerary.
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: The caledonian sleepers were booked up to 12 months in advance and the night riviera is around 12 weeks prior to show yeah, so looking forward to doing that one, because we've done the caledonian sleep I don't know how many times and I have never done the night riviera, so that'll be good.
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: So our next one, from karen mm.
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: I want to go from london to leamington spa with a stop at bletchley park.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: Oh, good choice.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: Uh, when should I?
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: We've got a podcast, I think, which we talk about Bletchley Park.
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: Uh, when should I book tickets and what are my options if I want flexibility on the timings?
• 26:23
  Speaker 3: so yeah, they.
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: These are on different lines from London ones on the Marylebone Chiltern line.
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: So the easiest will be to travel from London Euston to Bletchley and then travel onwards to Rugby and then Coventry and back to Leamington.
• 26:36
  Speaker 3: Or alternatively, you can go return to Euston after Bletchley and head across to Marylebone for the Chiltern line to Leamington.
• 26:44
  Speaker 3: You do have choice and you have options, but it depends on your ticket time.
• 26:48
  Speaker 3: So look at the cost of those tickets and when you travel and look for the best deals perfect.
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: So we've got a general question when and how to book ahead and if it's worth purchasing tickets on the travel day, or is that risky to do that?
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: And I'm just going to mention at this point, because we hear this so often and see this so often in the Facebook group, that there seems to be an assumption that train tickets sell out.
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: So would you like to kind of yeah, as of all.
• 27:20
  Speaker 3: As of all, that's not possible.
• 27:22
  Speaker 3: There's certain services, particularly eastern west coast main line, which are predominantly um reservation only.
• 27:28
  Speaker 3: But in my experience I have never.
• 27:31
  Speaker 3: Once in my many, many, many years of catching the trains around the UK, I've never come across a train that's entirely seat reservations only.
• 27:39
  Speaker 3: Nice theory that they'll stop selling tickets once the seats are filled, but I'm sorry, that's not the way you run a rail business.
• 27:47
  Speaker 3: So journey planning is best with, in my opinion, and others may vary, but I I know, when I talk to lots of other rail experts as well, that the national rail inquiries is the most accurate for travel information, journey planning, tickets for any journey.
• 28:06
  Speaker 3: This is what confuses people as well.
• 28:07
  Speaker 3: Tickets train tickets for uk trains can be purchased on any of the train operators websites.
• 28:13
  Speaker 3: They sell them for all the lines even though they don't operate on.
• 28:17
  Speaker 3: But to me you're gonna get the.
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: The best deal is If you look around, compare prices some of admin charges, some do not.
• 28:27
  Speaker 3: Some say they have no admin charges but they'll charge a little bit more for the ticket is to do your homework and look at the tickets available.
• 28:35
  Speaker 3: The train line for the ticket is to do your homework and look at the tickets available.
• 28:39
  Speaker 3: The train line we recommend as well because or if you don't know which operator to look at, you don't know which companies to look at the train line is a good starting place to have a look and see what tickets they have available for you.
• 28:48
  Speaker 3: For the longer journeys I would always recommend not purchasing on the day.
• 28:53
  Speaker 3: Look for these best advanced ticket sales.
• 28:57
  Speaker 3: I won't elaborate too much on it because I could talk on this topic for the next hour itself.
• 29:02
  Speaker 3: But not all ticket types are sold at the same time so there might sell some tickets in a little batch to see how the sell.
• 29:11
  Speaker 3: So it's best to look in advance.
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: But some of the shorter journeys, there's no difference with purchasing on the day because the ticket prices are not going to vary much for today or for three months time you do go in into a lot more detail on in the train book about the different types of tickets as well, so I think it's worth yeah, um, you know saying, if you want to know more about that, really would recommend uh booking, uh, recommend buying the train book that Doug wrote, because it's excellent and reading that will prepare you hugely.
• 29:44
  Speaker 3: Sure and all land as well.
• 29:46
  Speaker 3: Another reason for the longer journeys is you most likely will be looking for a seat reservation as well.
• 29:52
  Speaker 3: You can't have a seat reservation unless you have a valid ticket.
• 29:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah, what about shorter commuter train journeys?
• 30:03
  Speaker 3: There's little or no benefit for advanced sales because those prices are pretty much fixed.
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: okay, yeah do you have any money saving tips for train travel?
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: So again the general question, and I know we've just updated yeah, look at our website have I said a couple of articles look at our website.
• 30:16
  Speaker 3: Have I said that before?
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: have a look at our website travelplanningcom and we have the london travelplanningcom, and I am just going to throw in there as well, because we have a third website, if you're not aware of it, and we actually have a second podcast, which is global travelplanningcom, and this podcast of the same name where d Doug is talking about train travel and other destinations around the world, including tips for train travel in Europe, which, again, doug's pretty knowledgeable about.
• 30:43
  Speaker 3: Very experienced.
• 30:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so, yeah.
• 30:45
  Speaker 3: So on our website we have a whole section given over to UK trains, uk train travel.
• 30:51
  Speaker 3: You mentioned at the start of this.
• 30:54
  Speaker 3: We have our e-book as well.
• 30:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah, a guide to UK train travel, which is very popular.
• 31:00
  Speaker 3: We know that.
• 31:00
  Speaker 3: But on the website, in a book book in more detail, we have links to the tickets, national rail cards and also the Brit rail pass.
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: Lots of information about those and we have a specific article 13 ways, 13 tips to save uh money on our new catering job.
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: Maybe we should turn that into a podcast, maybe turn that to a youtube video let us know if you'd like to see, or um, or hear that uh, youtube or podcast.
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: What would you like?
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: So then, um, another general question, um, this is about the cot swirls, because we do get asked this a lot, and I will actually say we have got an article about how to get around the Cotswolds.
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: But this quick question specifically, uh and I know it's about, uh, train travel.
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: So is it possible to travel to and around the Cotswolds from London by train?
• 31:50
  Speaker 3: Not in any great depth.
• 31:51
  Speaker 3: No, uh, that's the truth of it.
• 31:53
  Speaker 3: You've got the Cotswold line which will take you from Oxford to Worcester, and that's coming out of London, Paddington, and it's very, very easy to get to.
• 32:02
  Speaker 3: But once you arrive in, say, morton and Marsh, you're going to need other means to transport to get around.
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely so I recommend, if you want to do.
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: There's some other options as well which I'm going to throw in there.
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: If you're thinking about going by train, if you go by train to morton and marsh, I recommend, uh, going out on a tour with go cotswolds.
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: You can listen to lisa on the podcast talk about their excellent tours around the cotswolds.
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: If you don't want to take a train and you only want to go for from london itself, then we recommend the english bus for a small group tour.
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: Or if you want a private tour, there is a Victoria of Cotswold teacup tour so you can take you around the Cotswolds, which gets very, very booked up.
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: But so there are options.
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: There are different options, whether if you want to get the train in, or if you prefer get a train in and they have a private tour, or if you want to take the group tour instead.
• 32:50
  Speaker 3: So we do have other options and there are options on the website to look at but it is a nice train journey from london paddington to oxford and then on should absolutely cost well absolutely, but don't limit yourself in the cotswolds really, because train travel is not the cotswolds a huge area anyway, but you can't get around by train.
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: You need a car.
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: You need to be honest.
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: Now another general question when should I reserve a seat?
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: And if I'm traveling solo is is it better to reserve a seat at a table?
• 33:18
  Speaker 3: That's a very good question, actually, but there's no right or wrong answer.
• 33:22
  Speaker 3: It depends on your preference of what sort of person you are.
• 33:26
  Speaker 3: I can relate some of our own experiences.
• 33:29
  Speaker 3: Solo travel could be good in either.
• 33:31
  Speaker 3: Being confident and sociable could make a journey so much more fun if you engage with other passengers.
• 33:39
  Speaker 3: We've done that before, haven't we?
• 33:41
  Speaker 3: You sit at a table and you could be with two or three other strangers.
• 33:46
  Speaker 3: We've got our trainers firm friends with people, haven't we?
• 33:50
  Speaker 3: It just depends what sort of person.
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: You know, we've got our trainers firm friends with people, haven't we?
• 33:52
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's true.
• 33:52
  Speaker 3: It just depends what sort of person you are, but there's no right or wrong answer in that.
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: I have to say, because I do travel solo on the trains quite often, I don't tend to book a table, I tend to book the airline seat and I will either do a bit of work or have my headphones on, listen to some music, switch off for a bit and just enjoy the countryside as it goes past.
• 34:15
  Speaker 3: Well, that's just me.
• 34:15
  Speaker 3: It's a very personal preference I think so.
• 34:17
  Speaker 3: I mean a table can make it, make it easier to, you know, make a whole, enjoy, a journey more enjoyable.
• 34:24
  Speaker 3: But yeah, with earphones, I suppose you make your decision if you're wearing earphones, as to whether you want peace and quiet and do your own thing or potentially chat yeah, okay.
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: Next question from sybil d.
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: If I don't reserve a seat, can I just hop on and sit anywhere?
• 34:41
  Speaker 3: generally, yes, uh, with a valid ticket or pass, you can sit in any non-reserved seat.
• 34:46
  Speaker 3: Uh, on the longer journeys, especially at peak times, there may not be many non-reserved seats available and, as I alluded to before, some of the peak times trains from King's Cross, euston, for example, you know there could be a few unreserved.
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: Would there be, like a carriage that has unreserved yeah, there's generally at least one carriage that's unreserved.
• 35:11
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: Usually they'll say that I mean, there have been times when I've caught trains and I know I caught a train earlier this year from Edinburgh down to Birmingham and I decided to take an earlier train and I actually had a reservation for the later train and I didn't have a reservation.
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: So it was a bit hectic and I did end up getting a seat that hadn't been reserved.
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: But for some of the busier trains I think it's free to make a reservation.
• 35:35
  Speaker 3: Yeah, if you know what train you're catching, there's no reason not to book yourself a seat.
• 35:44
  Speaker 3: But before now we've booked a seat and, for whatever reason, decided the seat reserved is going backwards and I've seen a seat unreserved nearby going forwards.
• 35:55
  Speaker 3: I think I'll sit in that one.
• 35:56
  Speaker 3: There's no harm in doing that.
• 35:59
  Speaker 3: The only thing I was going to say.
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: I would say, if you sit in a seat that is reserved, then expect to potentially be moved.
• 36:06
  Speaker 3: Yes, that's right.
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: The next topic is luggage and logistics.
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: So a question from Suvi R Now we get so many questions about luggage.
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: If you want to hop off for a few hours in places like York or Birmingham, what is the best way to store your luggage?
• 36:21
  Speaker 3: Again, that's a very, very good question.
• 36:23
  Speaker 3: Birmingham, new Street and several other mainline bigger stations have left luggage options available at the station York doesn't?
• 36:32
  Speaker 3: Unfortunately, though, there is one just outside the station York, doesn't.
• 36:33
  Speaker 3: Unfortunately, though, there is one just outside the station if you turn right.
• 36:36
  Speaker 3: It's good to check left luggage options, other options as well, because they can be a bit cheaper.
• 36:43
  Speaker 3: Actually, bus stations if there's any bus stations near train stations, they quite often have left luggage options available.
• 36:49
  Speaker 3: So look at other options too, like, uh, in our london travel article we have one for stash and nanny bank?
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: yeah, there's quite a few different quite a few there options.
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: Now, it's just a case of checking, and we do have an article on the londontravelplanningcom website about where to leave luggage in london, which still would apply those those different um companies available throughout the uk true, and also what we found, more it's increasing really is particularly the more modern train stations or redeveloped stations.
• 37:18
  Speaker 3: If there's a shopping centre nearby, I've seen more, more luggage left luggage popping up there as well, for daily or for hourly rates, and they are quite often cheaper than the ones actually the main train stations.
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: I would just check.
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: That's something you're to have to plan ahead for.
• 37:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Really I would do that, but bus stations is a good option as well.
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: Okay, I didn't know that.
• 37:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: Okay, david R, any tips for getting to stations and managing suitcases?
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: Also, what are your best tips for finding the cheapest fares?
• 37:47
  Speaker 3: Again, I guess fairs, again, I guess we're talking about, uh, train fairs, but I think, managing suitcases I think, if it's open to you, I would look at private transfers, uh, or take taxes to the main stations again, what you said at the offset is to give yourself plenty of time.
• 38:06
  Speaker 3: Now you don't know how long these things are going to take you to get there, but if you've got quite a bit of luggage and you've got a longest train journey, last thing you need to be doing is arriving late, hassled, you know, and rushed.
• 38:16
  Speaker 3: It doesn't make for the best train experience.
• 38:19
  Speaker 3: So if it's possible for you, book yourself a private transfer or a taxi.
• 38:24
  Speaker 3: I mean, if you've booked accommodation right near a train station, yeah, you can actually just walk it.
• 38:30
  Speaker 3: But you've got the underground black cabs, et cetera.
• 38:33
  Speaker 3: In London as well, we tend to shy away from buses to stations because you know they can be a bit tricky.
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's been my idea of a nightmare trying to take suitcases on buses.
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: I have to say, but you know, the best tip really, as we've covered before, is allow yourself enough time if you're unfamiliar with the station or if you need any help with luggage yeah, and also just think about how much you're packing, and I know that can be a difficult one, but honestly, really, if if you're going to be doing a lot of train travel, uh, one option, for example, if you're starting a trip in london and say you're doing a train trip and around and then london and back in london is you could just leave some of your luggage at the hotel if you're going to stay at the same hotel accommodation.
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: We've done that recently.
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we've just done that actually in Malaysia.
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: We did that uh, we did that in Sri Lanka.
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: We've done that in the UK before, because then you don't have to think about dragging luggage around with you.
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: So do think about that.
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: Um, you know, dragging huge suitcases on and off trains is not fun.
• 39:31
  Speaker 3: It isn't.
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: It really isn't.
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: So, yeah, we tend to get a private transfer, we try to book a taxi and we think very carefully about the luggage that we are managing around the station.
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: Often there's lifts, but sometimes you get to train stations and the lifts aren't working.
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: No, that's right, and you've got to try and manage that.
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: Up and down escalators is not fun.
• 39:52
  Speaker 3: We found that in spain.
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's just not fun, yeah, so really got to think about that and say we've just had these experiences go around europe.
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: So you know we've actually with yeah yeah, we have this problem in spain, where escalate wasn't working and doug had to drag our uh 25 kilogram suitcase up and down large escalators.
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: This was in spain.
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: It was a nightmare which was not working because the escalators were working.
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: There's no lift, so again, you need to just prepare that, so I think there was.
• 40:16
  Speaker 3: It was a power cut.
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's oh, it was terrible, absolutely, it was really really bad so the second part.
• 40:20
  Speaker 3: You questioned david about cheapest fares, which we've covered, and I could talk on cheapest fares and ticket prices and ticket types for the next hour or two.
• 40:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah, have a look at our website.
• 40:32
  Speaker 3: We have an article the top tips to save money on uk trains.
• 40:36
  Speaker 3: That is by far your best starting point.
• 40:38
  Speaker 3: Or book an itinerary console.
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: I was going to say, or book a book, an itinerary console, or uh planning with doug, because, honestly, that that's going to be a great way to look at how best to save some money on we'll say people, some people, a lot of money yeah, a lot of time and a lot of money.
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: So next question, general question luggage facilities on board trains.
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: Oh, we get asked this so often and I know we've been taking photographs of as many trains as we can, of the boards as well, and for example, the Southampton train.
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: Somebody's asked before after cruises and also longer distance trains, For example some of Scottish trains departing from Kings Cross.
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: So those are.
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: I mean, I would say this is probably one after tickets and the train stations itself and arrived.
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: This is our probably most popular question there is?
• 41:23
  Speaker 3: certainly is, but there's certain rules of thumb which are very good at basic advice to give as regards luggage is if you're taking luggage on board a train, make sure you can safely carry and lift it yourself if need be, or unless, if you can't, specifically booked assistance okay.
• 41:41
  Speaker 3: So that's very, very important.
• 41:42
  Speaker 3: Um, and secondly, also depends on the train operator and train type or what what's scheduled to be running, as to how much left luggage there is or how much luggage facilities are on board.
• 41:55
  Speaker 3: You've got left luggage where you leave your luggage.
• 41:58
  Speaker 3: I mean actually at the end of the saloons or overhead or between seats.
• 42:02
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mentioned between seats because that often gets missed.
• 42:05
  Speaker 3: You've got people trying to stack luggage at the end of the saloon and overhead and you find a big gaps in between seats.
• 42:13
  Speaker 3: Where the seat backs come together.
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: You've usually got a um nice, yeah, yeah, and also keep an eye on your luggage.
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: I will just say that we've just done that yeah, I guess about staying safe in london.
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: But just we should probably do some stuff about kind of safety on on train travel as well.
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: But I think that's worth reminding people keep an eye on luggage most definitely and if possible.
• 42:34
  Speaker 3: You know sit and face your luggage not easy, and if you've got seats reserved and you know you're facing the opposite direction, but you know if you're sitting facing one direction, that's where the you need to restore any luggage if you possibly can.
• 42:47
  Speaker 3: You've got to go where the gaps are, of course, but it goes without saying that do not leave valuables in your main luggage.
• 42:54
  Speaker 3: Keep your luggage with your valuables right next to you yeah, okay, perfect.
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: And another general question how how to plan an itinerary for train travel, including how long to allow both platform changes, especially for travel luggage, all that kind?
• 43:08
  Speaker 3: of you can answer the first part of that well, we can help with that.
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: Um, you know, if you, if you want help planning a train itinerary, if you want us to just go over what you've put together yourself, um, you can have a consult we've got, we've got.
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: At the moment we have two different options.
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: One is we have a video consult where you can send us your questions and your itinerary and we can reply via video.
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: Or you can have a one-to-one consult where we sit and we go through your itinerary with you and answer all your questions.
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: So there you have access to us, uh, for an hour, uh, to ask all the questions that you want.
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: So that is very popular.
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: We've actually just opened up um sessions so you can book for june.
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: Welcome at july and august as well to be able to offer that.
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: Um, we tend to offer the video one more when we're traveling and it's a bit more difficult to have the time to do the one, the one, and we are going to start offering itinerary planning.
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: So this is first announcement I've made of this.
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: But, um, you know, if you want doug to help you plan your train itinerary to get the best out of your trip.
• 44:11
  Speaker 3: I've done every line.
• 44:12
  Speaker 3: I've done every main line there is in the UK.
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think.
• 44:17
  Speaker 3: I'm branch line.
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: Fantastic offer to be able to talk to help with that itinerary, but at the moment we're putting that together, so hopefully that will be coming out in the next couple of months We'll have the one-to-one consoles we do.
• 44:30
  Speaker 3: You will enjoy it.
• 44:30
  Speaker 3: We always end up having a bit of a laugh with people.
• 44:33
  Speaker 3: Don't be shy.
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: We're actually nice, normal people yeah, we love to meet you as well it's just, it's such a privilege for us to be able to meet you guys.
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, um.
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: So then the general question how to travel, uh, by train with luggage from Heathrow into central London.
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: So now I'm just gonna throw in there.
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: I personally, I am a person that likes to be picked up at an airport, especially airport.
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: I don't know when I'm arriving with my luggage, so I'm going to.
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: They're going to put in.
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: Uh, riz from xfa cars.
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: He was our partner.
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: He does private transfer, so that is my preferred way of being picking up picked up from he threw airport when I arrived with luggage after a long flight.
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I'm just going to going to throw that out because Riz has become a bit of a celebrity.
• 45:14
  Speaker 3: He is.
• 45:14
  Speaker 3: He's been on the podcast.
• 45:15
  Speaker 3: We're going to get some membership cards, I think.
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: He's been on the podcast numerous times and if you are in any of our Facebook groups, you will know how much Riz is loved and appreciated by everybody he has picked up, and I actually feel sorry for people who don't have risk, because he's just amazing.
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: Um, so that's an option, it's a stress-free, yeah.
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: It says if you can afford that, that is a honestly it's stress-free, brilliant option.
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: Uh, so that was that would be the way I'd say it.
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: But go on then.
• 45:39
  Speaker 3: Train travel we have a website to cover this, by the way.
• 45:42
  Speaker 3: We do have a very good article that covers this all the different means by train from heathrow into central london.
• 45:49
  Speaker 3: So best thing to do is consider all options.
• 45:53
  Speaker 3: Yes, private transfer as well, but train options.
• 45:55
  Speaker 3: But how far your destination is from when you get off the train?
• 45:58
  Speaker 3: If you're taking the train, so if you're going Elizabeth line, heathrow Express or the Piccadilly line, which is the London Underground that runs to Heathrow, it's just consider, if you've got a couple of bags and you're tired, how far you've got to walk when you get off that train.
• 46:09
  Speaker 3: You've got a couple of bags and you're tired, how far you've got to walk when you get off that train, because it could be quite a distance.
• 46:14
  Speaker 3: I mean, the Underground does have mass coverage but you know there is little gaps.
• 46:20
  Speaker 3: Where there's not, you know you've still got quite a walk to your accommodation, yeah, yeah.
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: So I think it's just fine again thinking really carefully about where you book your accommodation if you prefer to take the train.
• 46:29
  Speaker 3: And the time of your arrival as well, what time your flight lands.
• 46:32
  Speaker 3: You've got to stay safe as well, but the Elizabeth Line and the Heathrow Express have both got good luggage storage on board.
• 46:40
  Speaker 3: Less so with the older Piccadilly tube trains, but they're going to be replaced at some point.
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so you've got options.
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: One next topic is scenic journeys from Mandy W.
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: We'll be driving for most of our trip in September, but would love to include some scenic day train trips.
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: Any recommendations?
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: Oh gosh, we could make loads.
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: Actually, you know what, mandy?
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: I think that's a kind of whole episode in itself, and it depends where you're going to go, because there's some really beautiful scenic train trips that you can take, and I think maybe we should concentrate on that one as well.
• 47:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah, a lot depends on the time of year as well, and daylight hours as well, and how far you're going to go from your starting station and what your interests are as well.
• 47:29
  Speaker 3: If you want a beach place or a museum, you know there is options.
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: I guess it depends where you're going, because I'm just thinking if you were in cornwall, for example, like I wouldn't drive to saint ives, I'd park at saint earth and take that gorgeous train journey.
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: It's not very long from saint earth to saint ives and you don't have to worry about parking as well.
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: So sometimes it might be worth looking, not only the scenic one, but actually might be like a like, a nice way to just park and then avoid having to park at the destination.
• 47:55
  Speaker 3: But we do cover that sort of thing when we do the itinerary consoles as well, because we need some engagements as to what your interests are.
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: Where you're going to be, I guess.
• 48:05
  Speaker 3: Yeah, what sort of things you want to see and for how long?
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: Okay, so let's go on to the next topic brit rail passes and flexibility.
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: So, from jennifer dl, once a brit rail pass is activated, how do you actually get on a specific train or reserve seats?
• 48:18
  Speaker 3: brit rail pass comes up so often and it just seems to, uh, cause some confusion.
• 48:24
  Speaker 3: I will start by saying when you have a brit rail pass, you do not have to buy further train tickets, which some people seem to get a little bit.
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we get that a lot, so when you have your uh britvale pass.
• 48:37
  Speaker 3: Every person traveling needs a copy of that pass.
• 48:40
  Speaker 3: So whether it's a, we'll call an m pass or a paper version.
• 48:43
  Speaker 3: So you show your pass, there's a cute little qr code on it and you have passed through the ticket barrier and you exit through on to a departure main hall or a platform.
• 48:56
  Speaker 3: Okay, so your pass must be activated on your day of travel.
• 49:00
  Speaker 3: For all passengers.
• 49:02
  Speaker 3: That is okay, is britt rail?
• 49:05
  Speaker 3: Come to once free seat reservation and then they'll charge you for subsequent ones.
• 49:11
  Speaker 3: Point out, these are all free in the uk so you don't really need to book.
• 49:14
  Speaker 3: So what we tend to advise people with a brick rail is use your one free if you're using the train straight away.
• 49:20
  Speaker 3: It's either if you've got a short journey, not activated for that day because it's cheap, it's not worth it because you could travel by train the whole 24 hours.
• 49:31
  Speaker 3: But if you've only got a short journey, don't bother for that day.
• 49:35
  Speaker 3: But it might be a good idea to use your one free seat reservation for that first journey, if necessary, or on the following day and then you suggest um listen what trains you're potentially going to take and get yeah, you, that's what you work out.
• 49:49
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's why the advice from uh consults as well.
• 49:52
  Speaker 3: You know it's really you.
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: You want to get the best value for your brick rail day yeah, work out actually if a brick will pass is worth it, because your travel card might actually be worth it I guess, the advantage of brickwell passes.
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: It does give you a flexibility, which is we do talk about.
• 50:07
  Speaker 3: That's right and you know, if you've got one of the earlier questions, how much time to allow between train changes yeah you don't have to worry if you don't have, if you go bit.
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: Well, you don't have to worry about that.
• 50:16
  Speaker 3: You can jump on the next train next time you get to the platform.
• 50:19
  Speaker 3: Yeah, just back tracking slightly.
• 50:21
  Speaker 3: It's worth noting to make the seat reservations, the bit rail does not yet have to be activated, but you will need to show it as proof of purchase if you're making a seat reservation at a train station okay, yeah, okay.
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: So going back, sorry, tell me, gc will be traveling by train for nine days.
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: Would you recommend the brit rail or your rail pass, and do we need to seek reservations?
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I get you know these.
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: I do wonder sometimes with these, these sort of questions, this.
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: So it's best to actually talk to you individually and help you with this, because there's lots of questions that would need answering.
• 50:56
  Speaker 3: There's lots of variables, that's right.
• 50:57
  Speaker 3: So you know, reading your question again, we'll be travelling by train for nine days, it depends where.
• 51:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly how many train journeys are you planning?
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: To take, or how long are the distances and how many of you are there.
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: Is it worth, then, getting a travel card rather than looking at brit rail pass, because it actually might be cheaper, unless you say you want that, that level of flexibility, yeah, um, and again, the seat reservation question comes up against, and, um, you don't need seat reservations quite often, um, but it's useful to have.
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you want to add more yeah, it depends.
• 51:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it depends where you're travelling into the UK from.
• 51:32
  Speaker 3: You might be travelling from Europe.
• 51:33
  Speaker 3: It depends how many hours you actually plan on travelling that day as well, and the length of journeys involved.
• 51:41
  Speaker 3: For some, the sea reservations are definitely going to be recommended, so it's just a lot of variables.
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: I think there's no question to answer without knowing your specifics.
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah, heather M, can you explain whether Britwill Pass offers good value for extensive UK travel including London, cotswolds, york and Scotland?
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: And how does a sleeper end up in?
• 52:03
  Speaker 3: Again, getting into quite technical questions, yeah, again, it depends on how many daily journeys you are planning.
• 52:09
  Speaker 3: For a single journey from London to Milton in March the Cotswolds only for one day I would say no, it's not worth it.
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: No, and you can't travel around the Cotswolds anyway by train.
• 52:20
  Speaker 3: No, exactly.
• 52:21
  Speaker 3: So the Caledonia Sleep in the Nile Riviera.
• 52:24
  Speaker 3: You would need to pay a supplement so you can use your bit of L.
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: but then if you want a sleep in birth you have to pay bit of L, but you then, if you want a sleeping birth, you have to pay, because it just covers this.
• 52:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm both a bit there to be booked well in advance, which I already mentioned.
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, okay, and next section, timetables and booking ahead.
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: Trisha G, do UK train train timetables change season?
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: It good question is, I'm planning for October and want to know how far ahead I can check or book so the answer that question.
• 52:53
  Speaker 3: The UK rail timetable changes twice a year, in December and May, and that's one to add some adjustments and one to remove them.
• 53:01
  Speaker 3: That's basically it really Some of all train tickets, the best deal, shall we say, between six to nine weeks prior to travel.
• 53:10
  Speaker 3: That can vary for different ticket times.
• 53:12
  Speaker 3: I've already mentioned it's not all of six to nine weeks prior to travel.
• 53:14
  Speaker 3: That can vary for different ticket times.
• 53:15
  Speaker 3: I've already mentioned it's not all tickets six to nine weeks.
• 53:16
  Speaker 3: No, some tickets might be sooner, some might be later.
• 53:18
  Speaker 3: Depends on the days of the week you travel for weekends, which I've covered so many times in posts about sunday travel and public holiday travel, um, and there's some exceptions, because train operators as well.
• 53:33
  Speaker 3: It's not.
• 53:33
  Speaker 3: It's not one policy fits all, uh.
• 53:36
  Speaker 3: So it's best to test the waters regards tickets, um, to see how the prices are, when they're available and if you, if you see a price that you're happy with, it's best to book it.
• 53:47
  Speaker 3: Plain and simple and then then not check again yeah, just in case they have gone down.
• 53:52
  Speaker 3: So variations exist for the same operator on the same route and on the same day.
• 53:57
  Speaker 3: So that's why it's again best to talk to the experts okay.
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: So next question actually is about fines and mistakes.
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: So from emily c c, have you ever received a fine for the wrong train ticket and, if so, what's the process for resolving it?
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: Is it through the magistrate's court?
• 54:14
  Speaker 3: I haven't personally, but I do appreciate that sometimes in terms of ticket protocol, errors can be made.
• 54:20
  Speaker 3: I can only suggest liaising with your ticket outlet or train company for support and advice.
• 54:26
  Speaker 3: And on the receipt of the fine, there's usually a phone number you can call to discuss.
• 54:32
  Speaker 3: But my understanding is if you have so many days to pay a fine, the magistrate court will be involved.
• 54:40
  Speaker 3: If the fine is not resolved or contested.
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: Well, I have to say I've never had a fine, ever in the entire time I've ever been travelling on the UK train.
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: I think if you explain, if you've made a mistake and you've got a ticket, I don't know.
• 54:56
  Speaker 3: Talk to them, talk to whoever you got the ticket from.
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, explain the issue.
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: So I guess we're going to wrap it up, because we've been talking for nearly an hour, would you believe it?
• 55:05
  Speaker 1: And thank you for still hanging in there listening to this episode, because I know it's long, but I know there's a lot of valuable information being shared.
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: So always end the podcast with the same question.
• 55:17
  Speaker 1: I'm going to ask the same question to doug what is your top tip for traveling by train in the uk?
• 55:22
  Speaker 3: I'll say talk to the experts like us, stroke me, yeah, yes, um, yeah, consults, uh, whether it's a one-to-one or the video, um, we'll answer your endeavor to endeavour to answer all your questions and queries.
• 55:33
  Speaker 3: And experience has told us from the feedback, we have saved people a lot of time and money.
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah and yeah, talk to us.
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: If you have any issues you're not sure about, talk to us.
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: If you've just got a one-off question, just go into the Join Doug's UK Train Travel Tips Facebook group.
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: And obviously we've got the UK Rail Travel e-book as well.
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: We've got lots of resources, we've got the book, we've got the Facebook group and we've got lots of posts on the website and we have got some affiliate links as well.
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: So if you want to support us and I do want to say this, if you want to support us, if you enjoy our podcast, we'd love it if you would become a sponsor of the podcast, and that's from as little as three US dollars a month, so less than a cup of coffee, um, would help us, but also you can help.
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: Or tea in Doug's case yeah, buy Doug a cup of tea, um, it would really help, if you know, if you want to do that.
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: Uh, to say thank you as well, and we do have affiliate links.
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: If you're going to buy a Britrail pass, global Eurail pass or any train tickets across the UK because we do work with the train line as well you can buy through our links.
• 56:40
  Speaker 1: We would really appreciate that.
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: So they will be in the show notes and on the website.
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: Is there anything else that you want to mention?
• 56:47
  Speaker 3: No, thank you everybody who went to the trouble of providing some questions for us to cover.
• 56:52
  Speaker 3: That's very good of you.
• 56:52
  Speaker 3: Thank you also, Catherine, for grouping the questions together.
• 56:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's really helpful.
• 56:58
  Speaker 1: So I think that's the end of Episode 151, would you believe it?
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: 151.
• 57:02
  Speaker 1: Again, lots of links in the show notes which will be on the website uktravelplanningcom.
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: Forward slash episode 151.
• 57:11
  Speaker 1: So do go and check that out, do go and join Doug's training group, which is heading towards, I think.
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: Is it 3,000?
• 57:17
  Speaker 3: Close to 3,000.
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: 3,000 members, which is amazing.
• 57:19
  Speaker 1: Do also go and join the YouTube channel, because there's going to be some great videos coming out as well, which Doug's working very hard on getting out, I am yes, but yeah.
• 57:32
  Speaker 1: So thanks very much for joining us this week on the podcast.
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: Thank you, thanks so much for listening and, as always, we end the episode with the usual Happy.
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: Uk travel planning.
• 57:42
  Speaker 4: Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of the UK travel planning podcast.
• 57:46
  Speaker 4: As always, show notes can be found at UK travel planning dot com.
• 57:50
  Speaker 4: If you've enjoyed the show, why not leave us feedback via text or a review on your favourite podcast app?
• 57:56
  Speaker 4: We love to hear from you and you never know.
• 57:59
  Speaker 4: You may receive a shout out in a future episode, but, as always, that just leaves me to say until next week.
• 58:05
  Speaker 4: Happy, UK travel planning.